


Dynasty // yumihisu (ON HOLD)

by Chickenpolastri (marsistired), marsistired



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Blood Feuds, Fruit trees?, King Ymir, Knights - Freeform, LGBTQ Themes, Medieval Lesbians, Multi, Princess Historia, Rival Families, Romeo and Juliet type beat, Sapphic, Slow Burn, Sunset duals, Sword spinning, Swordfighting, Yearning, YumiHisu, dramatic gays, so much gay yearning, the alphabet community, wlw, yumikuri
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-07 22:27:59
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 25,919
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26905123
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsistired/pseuds/Chickenpolastri, https://archiveofourown.org/users/marsistired/pseuds/marsistired
Summary: The kingdoms of Sheena and Rose have feuded for years, but host a ball each year in an attempt to keep their kingdoms at peace. King Ymir meets Princess Historia at this years ball, unaware of the pain her family has caused in Ymir’s past. The two start meeting in secret, but the past will keep them apart unless they can find a way to overcome
Relationships: Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss & Ymir, Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss/Ymir, Levi/Hange Zoë, Marco Bott & Jean Kirstein, Marco Bott/Jean Kirstein, Mikasa Ackerman/Annie Leonhart, Reiner Braun/Krista Lenz | Historia Reiss
Comments: 24
Kudos: 86





	1. A Tale of Two Kingdoms Divided

**Author's Note:**

> A little Ymir and Historia fic with lots of sword fighting and a whole lot of enemies to lovers. Hope you like it (:

The Kingdom of Sheena was pristine, almost too good to be true. Inside the walls there was peace and in the villages just outside them the people never went hungry. Crime was sparse if there ever was any, and the royal Reiss family was held in high regard. Inside the castle walls there was a garden and an orchard. Apple trees were perfectly pruned and white flowers adored the green leaves. The trees formed a crescent moon shape around a small clearing. A gravel path led out to a wooden bench. On the bench the princess sat, staring pensively into the expanse of the garden. If you looked closely you’d see two knights flanking her. One woman with her hand on the hilt of her sword and a shorter man with a certain air of calm and danger surrounding him. The blonde let out a sigh and looked up at the blue sky, if she had the right to speak freely she would go on and on about how boring this all is. 

The safe and serene was a repetitive thing for her, she knew of nothing different than it. Her trips to the clearing were an everyday occurrence. Never alone, always trailed by knights Levi and Mikasa Ackerman. Levi, Commander of Sheena was handpicked to protect the princess. He was accompanied by his niece, specially trained for this tast, Marshal Mikasa. The two trailed her every day, careful to try their best to stay out of the princess’ direct line of sight. They were the two best knights in the Kingdom, but it seemed as if they’ve never once had to draw their sword. Except for the time of year where the apple trees hung heavy with ruby fruits and one was plucked from the branch, cut, and shared between the two of them. 

Princess Historia Reiss needed the protection though. Before her birth, the King of Sheena had launched an attack on a neighboring kingdom. The goal was to ensure peace for his lands and to expand his conquests and land claims. The goal was reached, it was almost guaranteed with a younger Levi Ackerman in their ranks, but the scar it ripped into the lands remained. They lived in a bubble of peace, almost completely exclusive to them. Historia had a certain hatred for it. She longed to leave the walls, to venture out and meet the people of other lands. She knew of a neighboring Kingdom only 15 miles West from her own and she longed to go there instead of her half moon shaped solace.

Outside the walls, West, and 15 miles away, the lands told a completely different story. The Kingdom of Rose was tiny compared to Sheena. The population was small and consisted mainly of knights. To a citizen of Sheena, Rose seemed like a nightmare. The people were mainly farmers and lived off of the land surrounding the castle walls. Inside the walls of the castle, in the throne room, sat the girl king Ymir. On her left and right were knights Annie Leonhart and Jean Kirstein. She sat on the throne with her legs hanging off the arm rest and a dagger in hand. She spun the tip on the pad of her index finger. In all honesty she was bored. She was too young to remember most of the hardships that had affected the Kingdom of Rose and for her well-being she wasn’t told of it. She’s always been taught that ignorance is bliss. And to her it was. 

Annie, Commander in Rose, knew of the past. Her partner Jean knew as well. There were reasons as to why they were always by her side. Annie even had to accompany her to the baths, standing watch as she finished her business inside. For a long time it was just Annie by her side. But after an incident that had almost put the King’s life at risk, Annie chose Jean to assist her. Jean Kirstein was an outstanding member of the cavalry having quickly risen through the ranks, he commanded the entire cavalry unit before being requested as personal protection for Ymir.

Rose was a rather isolated Kingdom, fully self sufficient in their endeavors. They cut all ties with Sheena for 3 years after the act of betrayal they committed against their people and they’ve never had relations with the Southern Kingdom of Maria. Maria treated it’s people with little to no respect, those actions being appalling to Rose. And the luxury of Sheena cultivated a certain hatred. 

The tales of the war of two kingdoms were told in hushed whispers. Tales of a time where blood flowed through cracked, dry ground, one where royal blood stained the ground. It was a plan devised by the former King of Sheena. King Reiss I had planned to overtake Rose in an attempt to further his land claims. From this plan came a war that had lasted almost 2 years in length. Both sides suffered greatly, but had eventually reached a compromise where they had agreed to keep their heads out of each others endeavors, only meeting twice a year. One for a ball used to keep a form of peace between their people. Another to exchange food and goods in an attempt to cultivate a new generation of peace and tolerance.

Even with these efforts a majority had bitter feelings towards the Kingdom of Sheena. The knights all had a distaste for the foreign units, with better equipment and sharper steels. Citizens had a disinterest in differing cultures and customs. But one had remained neutral. Her upbringing had designed her to be. She doesn’t know of the horrors that befell her family, all by the hands of King Reiss I. All that she knew is that her parents had ventured North to find the sea. She didn’t know of the cold, hard steel that King Reiss had sliced her parents throats with to try to bring peace to the lands.

This was one of the few times of the year where Princess Historia felt pure joy. She sat in the throne room with her father discussing plans for the ball. This was when she felt most free. She would help pick cakes, decorations, confections, food, wine, and musicians for her favorite time of the year. She felt absolutely giddy imagining the relaxed environment it would create. She’d be freed from the prying eyes of the Ackermans and roam freely through the hall of castle Sheena. All by herself. It was a phrase she had almost fallen hopelessly in love with, all by herself, everyday she was accompanied by the Ackermans and she always had servants bustling around her to do tasks in her place. 

She was abruptly shocked back into reality by her fathers voice, “Historia this year is going to be a special one.”

She looked up at him, confused by his words and waiting for a further explanation.

“The King of Rose is coming.”

Historia sat in her seat completely dumbfounded. She’s of course heard stories of the king, in fact she looked up to the king in some ways. She knew of the hardship her family has caused them and the way the king had overcome it all. King Ymir, at only 17, ruled all of Rose. She walked freely around her kingdom, trained with the knights, and above all was free to do whatever she pleased whenever she pleased. But why the sudden change of heart? The king had received invitations for the past couple of years, but they had always been declined. Only the subjects of Rose attended, not the king herself. Through the confusion she found excitement. She smiled and her eyes lit up in a way that no one in the room had ever really seemed to see. The King. The King of Rose was coming to the ball. 

Annie’s boots hitting the cobblestone road as she walked and the sounds of steel hitting steel hung heavy in the air. In her hand she held a letter addressed to King Ymir, sealed in gold colored wax pressed with the Reiss family crest. She usually didn’t concern herself with the petty feud between the two kingdoms, but this letter piqued her interest. She knew what time of the year it was and the invitation wasn’t odd to see, but the delivery was. She was approached by an Eren Yeager of Sheena, a taller boy with dark messy hair who was apparently the messenger appointed by the king. Don’t know what King Reiss was thinking when he appointed a scrawny boy who seemed to have no fighting ability. But, nevertheless she accepted the invitation and agreed to relay it to Ymir, then promptly had him escorted out by two knights.

The sound of steel on steel was like music to Annie. She was headed towards the barracks, a second home to her. She had trained there for years, her skill and agility having her quickly rise in rank, even passing a knight of 10 years in rank. Ymir had come down to the barracks with Jean to train in her sword fighting. It was always funny to her when the king requested to take Jean instead of herself. He was a bit of a punching bag to Ymir and he knew it.

When she arrived she found Ymir and Jean with their swords locked in an X. Ymir’s sword laid on top of Jean’s, using her body weight to force him lower and lower to the ground. Her expression was one of pure joy. Sweat dripped down the slope of her nose and her amber eyes were hard in concentration. Her teeth were gritted and her brows were furrowed, trying to measure what Jean’s next move would be. Jean had brute strength on his side and was more agile than he looked, but Ymir was just as strong, if not stronger, and was so quick on her feet that it seemed as if she was floating when she sparred, yet she lacked in balance.

In the blink of an eye, Jeans eyes flicked to Ymir’s rather unsteady stance and he saw his opportunity to turn the tide. He let out a grunt as he pivoted his foot forcing his blade up the edge of Ymir’s sword bringing the point to her chest with deadly speed. A look of surprise crossed the king’s face, but was quickly replaced by a smile. She let out a laugh, “Thats’s more like it Jean! I knew you had it in you.”

Caught off guard by the sudden outburst he let his concentration falter, leaving him a sitting duck. Ymir grinned as she used the flat of her sword to push Jean off balance. He struggled to keep himself upright and let his blade fall. Ymir took the opportunity to hit his blade once more, making him fall to the dirt.

Ymir planted a foot on Jean’s chest and hovered the tip of her sword above his throat. He swallowed hard, his breathing heavy as he looked up at a smiling Ymir. She leaned down, bringing her face closer to his. “Now that Jean, that is how you take someone down.

Annie stood a few feet away under the trees surrounding the barrack’s clearing for training, letter still in hand. She walked forward to the two of them, Ymir now laughing in Jeans face as he tried to come up with reasons why the match wasn’t fair. 

“Your maj-,” Annie’s words were interrupted by Ymir whipping around, her look one of pure steel, quickly bringing her sword from Jean’s throat to Annie’s throat. Below them Jean groaned as Ymir applied more pressure to his chest, keeping him from getting up again. Annie just stood there annoyed, this was almost a weekly thing with how absorbed Ymir got into sparring matches. Upon realizing who it was the king’s gaze softened and she dropped her sword. Foot still on Jean’s chest she started to laugh, “Oh, it’s just you. Annie, how many times have I told you that you don’t have to call me ‘your majesty’, it’s just Ymir to you,” she looked down at Jean, “Same goes for you too Jean.” She took her foot off of his chest expecting Annie to deliver some kind of news to her.

“A messenger from the Kingdom of Sheena came today, an Eren Jeager, he had a message for you from King Reiss II. I think it might be about this year’s ball.” Ymir took the envelope from Annie and opened the gold wax seal, splitting the Reiss family crest into two equal parts. Inside the letter read:

King Ymir of the Kingdom of Rose,

The king of Sheena cordially invites you and your subjects to the annual ball of two kingdoms. The event will be held in the Sheena castle, in the main ballroom. All of the subjects of Rose are invited, and encouraged to attend for a night of food, wine, and happiness,

With wishes of prosperity and countless blessings,  
His Majesty King Reiss II of the Kingdom of Sheena

Ymir looked up at Annie. Behind her Jean stood, readjusting his chainmail and dusting himself off. He was rubbing the center of his chest where the king’s foot once was, in an attempt to make the lingering pain and feeling subside. What Annie heard next was something she has never expected to hear in her lifetime. Ymir’s eyes shone and a smile formed on her face, she cocked her head to the side, “You know, why don’t we go this year? We’ve never been but the subjects go each year. Who knows? Maybe we’ll actually enjoy ourselves.”


	2. Eve

The walls of castle Sheena were high, threatening to touch the clouds. Historia had a certain hatred for them. From her bedroom she could see them, their daunting height almost inescapable. A knight appointed by Commander Levi stood outside of her bedroom door. She could practically feel their presence through the walls, but it was better than having a knight physically in her room.

In the mornings, especially quiet ones like this, she’d often find herself daydreaming. Wishing for a type of normal in her life. She wished to venture outside the walls, to the two neighboring kingdoms Rose and Maria. Wearing simple clothes like the civilians, maybe even learning how to swordfight from the knights. Maybe if she asked Mikasa she’d teach her. She doubts it though, at only 4’11 (almost 5’0) a swing of the sword would probably take her down with it. But with every year that passes within the walls she learns how important fickle dreams like these are. She’ll hold onto them until her last breath, even if that's inside the walls.

It was scheduled to be held a day from now. Historia spent most of her time of day now doing almost nothing. At this point the work was done. Her gown was selected and altered to fit her frame perfectly, the wine selection was finalized yesterday, and the hand picked musicians were busy rehearsing in the ballroom. She was proud of the state of things. She had the seamstress embroider cloth banners with the Reiss family crest to hang on the walls. The crest was carefully stitched onto the ruby red cloth with gold floss, the details were so fine that you couldn’t make out singular stitches unless you held it a few centimeters from the eyes. But what she was most proud of was the inclusion of the Kingdom of Rose’s crest. The fabric was a rich deep blue adorned with a yellow sword wrapped in the thorny vines of a rose bush. She hoped to include them the best she could. She was used to the usual civilians of Rose coming to the ball, but never the king herself. She wanted to keep any bad blood and ill feelings at bay and keep the ball as peaceful and happy as she could.

It’s something she’s started to dream about. The way the ballroom would be filled with laughter, happiness, and good times. The people of both kingdoms mingling freely without a care in the world. The opportunity to meet new people and hear their stories. That was probably one of her favorite parts. Getting to hear about different people and their lives and experiences made her feel as if she were able to live how she pleased. After the ball, she'll daydream about them in her free time. Losing herself in stories of the sea full of salt water and mountains higher than she could ever imagine.

The royal family of Reiss weren’t the only ones preparing for the ball. Knights Mikasa and Levi were cooped up in the barracks planning. They had vacated the room leaving two of them in the arms room, with a map of the castle laid out on the table in front of them. The Ackerman’s needed a plan for the night. Tasked with finding a way to be completely concealed in a bustling crowd of people while never leaving the Princess by herself. At least one of them needed to be in an arm's reach at all times. Just in case things went south. There has never been any kind of incident at the ball, but knowing that the king of Rose would be in attendance spurred a sense of anxiety in the two knights.

“Possible entry points are here, here, and here,” Levi pointed to the three doors leading into the ballroom as he spoke. “I’ll have knights posted at all three, I’m thinking Marco, Petra, and Rico. As for us, it’ll be another night on the job. Near princess Historia, but not close enough to be a bother."

Mikasa brought her hand up to the blueprint and used her index finger to draw a circle around the garden clearing. “And do we have this area covered?’’ She was usually the driving force behind Levi. She picked up where he lacked, but also outshone him in many areas. He’s trained her since the moment she could comfortably hold a sword and she’s become stronger than him and more of a hard worker he’s ever been. If he could pick, he’d want to be Mikasa rather than being him.

“That area should be closed to the public, but you’re right if Historia slips out there’s no one there with her. Depending on the one closest to her, they’ll trail her, good?’

She nodded her head in response. “And for weapons?”

“Daggers. Something that we can hold with us, but can easily concealed. We’ll pick them out while we’re here."

He rolled up the map and motioned for her to follow him deeper into the armory. There was a rack in the back of the room, hung heavy with assorted daggers, bows, and swords. He picked out a dagger in a black sheath, heavily decorated with silver filigree. Mikasa chose her, a simple dagger in a darkly stained leather sheath. The differences in them were evident even in their choice of weapons, even down to their armor. Levi tended to be more flashy with his choices, wanting to make his rank known in a way to demand respect. However, Mikasa kept things simple. The air around her alone demanded respect. Her armor and swords were about the same as how a knight new to the ranks looked. She let her skill and mind do the speaking for her.

Levi tucked the dagger into the waistline of his trousers, fastening it to his belt looks with a black silk ribbon. He looked at Mikasa, “We meet back here at 6:00, be early. At 6:30, Petra, Marco, and Rico will arrive and we move to the ball at 7:15. Remember Mikasa we need to blend in. Let the crowd swallow you.”

In the Kingdom of Rose the activities of the day were incredibly relaxed, completely opposite of the neighboring kingdom. Ymir was in her bedroom, doing her best to stay still as a seamstress pinned her clothing. The seamstress had planned for the king to wear a dark blue tunic with delicately embroidered gold roses adorning the cape that would be draped over her shoulders. With the ball being tomorrow, today she had to make certain adjustments to the clothing in order to make it as best fitting as possible. 

Annie sat on the king’s bed, something that the normal person wouldn't dare to do, but Annie and the king have become more like best friends than royalty and mandated protection. She was as relaxed as she ever got. The king’s room was one that was more familiar to her than her own sleeping quarters, sometimes even spending the night in the same bed as the king. With being tasked as her night guard every other night it gave the two of them time to become close. When she first started she’d spend the night posted outside of Ymir’s bedroom door. But, as time went on Ymir would often invite Annie inside, just to sit down and talk. The two had a trust that no one else in the kingdom had. 

It was obvious that out of the two guards Annie was the king’s favorite. Jean didn’t get along with most people, but he and Annie had grown to enjoy each other's company. She had to pick up where he slacked off, but the job would be boring at times if it weren’t for Jean’s jokes and sarcastic comments. He was used to being the king's punching bag at times. He liked the jokes between them and the extra sword practice he got from the sparring sessions. 

“Annie, what are you going to be wearing for tomorrow night?” Ymir honestly didn’t care, but the boredom of having to stand up straight in one position while a seamstress pokes pins into her clothing didn’t exactly fit her idea of fun. 

She had to pause and think on this one. She’d usually just wear her leather trousers, boots, and a tunic embroidered with the crest of Rose and complete the look with chainmail over it. But, that didn’t seem appropriate for a ball and frankly seemed like it’d come off as threatening. 

Ymir noticed the puzzled look on the knight's face and offered her an ultimatum, “You know Annie you actually don’t have to come. I can just take Jean, he seems like the more social one out of the two of you.”

Annie began to protest saying that taking only one guard wasn’t a wise choice and putting her life at risk for no reason at all. Ymir quickly cut her off, “Annie, are you doubting my decision? I’m just stating something that I see as obvious. Jean’s the more social one out of you two and i believe that he’d do a better job tomorrow night. It’s not that I doubt your abilities, I think you’re the most skilled and gifted knight in this kingdom, but you’d stick out in a crowd of people and that doesn’t really go along with the type of cover work that I planned out with Hange last night.”

Annie sat there dumbfounded at the king’s sudden outburst. “Pick your jaw up off the floor, Annie, and go let Jean know and get him ready for tomorrow. You know it’s nothing cruel, I’m looking out for you. I care about you Annie. I’d rather have you spend a night off at the castle than have you uncomfortable for god knows how long at the ball.”

Jean was in the stables. Before becoming a knight he was a stable boy through and through. He took these skills and joined the cavalry regiment of the knights of Rose. He started off tending to the horses, waking at the crack of dawn to feed and water them. He was yet to have a horse of his own, but when he was permitted one his skills as a knight began to shine. The cavalry sword he used was larger and heavier than the usual issue ones, but the way he used it made it seem like the sword weighed next to nothing. It sliced through the air like the wind it produced. The skill set and level he acquired made him stand out among all the other knights, eventually leading for his selection as personal protection to King Ymir.

He was brushing his horse, Apollo, when he got the news from Annie. He was shocked that she wouldn’t be in attendance, but as it settled in his mind the king’s reasoning started to make sense to him. Most knights had the same kind of tough stone cold outer shell that Annie had. They all looked as if they walked the Earth for one purpose and one purpose only. He’d blend in easier, but also be able to pinpoint the demeanor of a well trained knight in seconds. It seemed evident to him that the ball wasn’t just a night to enjoy themselves. It was also a strategic move on Ymir’s part, scouting out the most powerful of Sheena’s knights and military force. 

He returned back to what he was doing, daydreaming of what tunic and trouser he’d wear tomorrow night. Of all the people he’d meet and the genuine, fun conversations he’d have without people different than the one’s home at Rose. He almost let the true nature of his role slip his mind for a second. He changed his dreams of a tunic dyed to the kingdom’s colors to figuring out how to incorporate a weapon and his combat style into his clothing. After all, he was going to protect the king no matter the cost.


	3. Illicit Affairs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooo hope you enjoy this one thank you for reading (:

The road the horses carried the carriage over were bumpy and crude. They weren’t frequently traveled, leading them to grow messy and unkempt. Inside the carriage Jean and Ymir were jostled around. Jean sat looking out into the countryside. It was sprawling trees and brush, he could faintly make out the outline of hunting villages. The sun was just about to set, threatening to spill a myriad of colors onto the ground. 

The dagger’s sheath, tied onto the inside of his trousers, felt as if it was going to burn a hole into his side. For most of his childhood he was alone. His mother had babied him for as long as he could remember, leaving his social skills with people his age lacking. After enlisting into the knights we felt as if he had blossomed in a way. He made true connections with people and found ways to build his confidence. He honed his skills in conversation, but found that he was better at pleasing people than befriending them. 

He looked over at Ymir. The king was dressed in a dark blue tunic with stark yellow accents, the breast of the shirt donned the royal crest. The cape made by the seamstress sat in the empty seat to her left, it was likely that upon arrival it would lay in the carriage forgotten. She was staring at door handles, like she was on edge and expecting things to turn sour at the flip of a dime. She noticed his gaze on her and looked up at him. He quickly looked away and realized something. The king and Annie were probably the first genuine friends he’s met.

Historia was buzzing with excitement. Her ball gown was dark red, beautifully contrasting her fair skin tone. The ball was merely a half hour in session and the energy of the room was absolutely electric. She sat near the sidelines, too scared to start interacting with everyone in the room. Around her people hugged and laughed, told stories of family activities, and caught up with relatives. People from both kingdoms had a clear difference in dress and mannerism, but talked like the miles between them didn’t exist. The people of Rose were far more laid back and casual while the people of Sheena tended to be more conservative and uptight. 

The princess stood up and walked to a small gathering of people that seemed to be around her age. She didn’t plan on letting herself join the conversation, she just wanted to listen and store away their stories to relive them in her mind later. She stood slightly behind them acting as if she was looking for someone. She faintly heard a story unfolding behind her. A fishing trip. They had all gone out together and went fishing. What they caught is what they had for dinner and afterwards they had all swam in the lake they traveled too. A smile appeared on her face, she thought of what it’d be like if she could go on a trip like that.   
Several feet away Commander Levi stood refilling his goblet with wine. He brought it to his lips and sipped slowly while looking around the room. He spotted Mikasa a small ways away from him and Historia. She was sticking out more than he was comfortable with. The two made eye contact and Levi nodded his head, a silent signal for her to move closer to Historia as he left to survey the room. 

Doors lined the outskirts of the ballroom. In the back, slightly raised, sat the musicians and behind them was the door to the courtyard outside. At each door a knight was stationed. Rico, Petra, and Marco stood there in tunic and chainmail with a sword at their side. Good, they stood like stone offering a sense of respect for Sheena. No one was allowed past them without proper consultation first. The plan was going smoothly. He turned around to head back to Historia, but he stopped in his tracks after hearing one of the doors creaked open.

In stepped a woman with a man by her side. The male was lanky, not an immediate threat. Through the crowd Levi could only make out faces and slight body features. There was something about the girl that worried him. He could faintly make out a light spray of freckles on her face and her amber eyes were solid. She exuded a sense of confidence and power that was close to feeling like a threat. She finally stepped into view. He saw the unmistakable royal colors of Rose. The woman was Ymir, King of Rose, flanked by her knight, Jean Kirstein. 

Music filled the air and the atmosphere was light and airy. She turned to Jean and said, “Well isn’t this nice?” The duo looked around the room, eyes jumping from decorations to laughing figures to musicians to tables overflowing with food and sweets. The whole thing was a bit overwhelming to be honest. The people of Rose were always very laid back and kind, but they never had any gatherings this big. The ballroom at the castle was almost never used and has, to some extent, become some kind of crude personal library. 

Ymir looked to the front of the room. At the table sat the king of Sheena, Rod. She motioned for Jean to follow her over as she walked towards him. Introductions were probably a good way to start. 

“This place is lovely Rod,” the king looked up at her. A smile crossed his face and he stood to greet her. 

He took her hand shaking it with both of his, “Ah King Ymir! It’s truly a pleasure to have you. Please, make yourself at home; what’s mine is yours, don't be a stranger to the people. And who is this?"

"Jean Kirstein, your majesty, it's a pleasure to meet you." 

The King of Sheena laughed and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Loosen up, boy! We're friends here!"

Levi quickly made his way to Mikasa, who stood close to Historia, watching as she spoke to people in the crowd. He shouldered past the crowds of laughing people, arriving at her side. She bent down to his level as he spoke, “The King of Rose is here, stay on top of things. This rides on us the rest of the knights are to stay posted at the doors.”

Ymir stood towards the walls of the room. She sipped her wine as she watched everyone mingle. She was being more conservative than she’s ever really been, but these weren’t her people. Frankly, she was a bit scared. Much to his dislike, she’d allowed Jean to go out and talk with everyone attending. He stood by the doors speaking to one of the knights of Sheena. He was a slightly shorter boy, laughing as Jean spoke to him. Ymir smiled to herself, it was nice seeing him really unwind and have a good time especially after knowing the rigors of his work back home at the castle. 

She turned her attention back to the room. It seemed like it’d be hard to just insert herself into an already established group, but she didn’t want to spend her entire night on the sidelines. Her eyes found a girl retreating to a wall. Her blonde hair was flowing beautifully onto a deep red dress and her eyes rivaled the depths of the ocean. Ymir wasn’t the soft compliment type, but this girl was truly stunning. Amber eyes met ocean and she smiled at Ymir from across the room, filling the space with an unmeasurable warmth. She downed the contents of her glass, placed it onto a nearby table, and walked over. 

Mikasa saw the king moving to Historia and followed, trailing a few feet away. Hand ready on the hilt of her dagger. Levi came up behind her and placed his hand on her shoulder. She quickly turned around, her gaze meeting his dark eyes, “Wait, we’ll see how this plays out.”

“Hi,” The word was meek and shy coming out of the princess’ mouth. She was slightly awestruck, the one person she’s wanted to meet this entire night was standing by her. The king was stunning, much more stunning than she’d imagined. She was quite taller than her, with dark honey eyes and a spraying of freckles on her face. Her hair was neatly clipped back, save two pieces that hung framing her face. 

The king smiled back at her, “And hello to you to your royal highness.” The title made Historia laugh, the formality was said almost like a teasing joke. 

She played with her hands wringing them as the nerves of the situation set in. The composure of the king was intimidating to say the least, but also welcoming in a way that beckoned her closer. The taller girl must have been able to see her nerves, “We can go ahead and get introductions out of the way. You’re Historia right? I’m Ymir, don’t bother with any of the formal stuff, it's just Ymir. You planned all of this, right? It’s honestly amazing I’ve never been to something like this.” 

The compliment put the princess at ease and she started to feel her nerves melt away. She grinned, a slight blush rushing to her cheeks, “I did! I plan it every year, but I think this is the best I’ve ever done.”

Ymir gestured to the tapestries hanging and to the musicians to their left, “It’s all so beautiful. I never thought I’d ever see my family’s crest hanging from the walls of this ballroom, given where we are.” 

Out of the corner of her eye, Historia saw Levi and Mikasa slowly making their way towards them. She cursed herself for not even trying to protest having their presence at the ball. The king, no, Ymir was going on about the decorations and food and she didn’t want this moment to get ruined by two knights seeing her as a helpless little girl.

She interrupted Ymir. The taller girl looked at her questioning why she had interjected, “Would you want to talk outside? There’s a little spot I have and I think it’ll be a lot quieter. It'll be easier to talk.”

Historia didn’t wait for an answer, she took the king’s hand in hers and led them to the door leading to the courtyard. Ymir looked back, losing Jean in the crowd. She knew she’d be okay without him, the princess didn’t seem like any kind of trouble. If she did get herself into any kind of bad situation, she could take the other girl down no problem

Outside the air was chilly. Historia had let go of her hand once they got outside and now she wanted that little bit of shared warmth back. The girl led her down a cobblestone path, the moon above them shone casting a little light onto the pair. In front of them was a small semi circle of trees lining a little clearing, the center had a small table and a bench. Historia sat down and gestured for her to sit down beside her.

The pair sat in a comfortable silence. Ymir looked around the courtyard, eyes going from the trees to the buildings that were past the cobblestone path they took outside. She could faintly see the lights radiating from the ball, painting the walkway shades of yellow and orange. But, other than that there was no source of light. The only things she sensed was her breathing, how close the princess was to her, and the chill in the air. 

The king wasn’t really one for feelings. She’s never had the crushes most people her age had. She was good at making lasting connections though, Annie and Jean proved this. She’s asked Annie about it once. About romance and those kinds of feelings felt like. The knight just shrugged her off saying that she’d just know when she met the person that would turn out to be special to her.

Maybe this was it.

She could feel the warmth radiating off of Historia, it seemed to beckon her closer to the girl in a way inviting her into the princess’ light and warmth. She looked at the smaller girl, who’s eyes were set onto the night sky. Ymir looked up to, trying to figure out what she was so absorbed in. 

The blonde broke the silence between them, “Maybe we’ll be there someday.” She turned to Ymir, feeling the girl’s gaze on her. “They’re so beautiful, aren’t they?”

The king furrowed her brow in confusion, “The stars, right?”

The girl laughed, “Of course the stars. There’s really not anything else out here.” Ymir’s face flushed a deep pink and she joined in laughing at her own stupidity in the moment. 

Ymir started to ask, "What do you mean we-"

Historia interrupted with her own question, “Are you happy? I mean, are you happy where you are?”

The girl had her confused again, “Like back in Rose?”

She nodded, “Yes, back in Rose.”

Ymir let out a sigh, “I mean I think so. It’s all I’ve really known and it feels like I can do just about anything there. My friends, Jean and Annie, are there and they make it nice and it feels like home with them there. They don’t treat me differently either, I mean with the whole royalty thing,” she gestured to the castle walls and their clothing, “I get to do anything that anyone else could do, just with the royal perks.” She turned to Historia, “What about you, are you happy here in Sheena?”

The princess sat in silence for a moment. She looked up at the king’s face, taking in all the small details. Everything from the shape of her lips, the curves of her brows, the placement of the freckles adorning her cheeks, and her warm amber eyes looking into her own.

She took a deep breath before she spoke, “No. It’s all so much here, but there’s nothing to do. There’s nothing that you can truly enjoy, at least that’s how I see it. I want to be everyone else, I want to be like you. You’re so much, you have volumes to you and I’m just the princess.”

Ymir was taken aback, she pointed to herself, “Like me?”

She nodded, “Like you. My father told me about you. About how you were my age and a sword fighter and a king and a friend to your people. I want to be like that. I want to fall in line with the citizens and walk the streets with them. I want to learn how to fight and ride a horse. I want to make me, I want to be what I want to be. I don’t want to be the perfect little regal princess.”

This was definitely not on the list of things she expected to happen tonight. Ymir sat there trying to piece it all together. The princess hated it here, that wasn’t too wild to her she hated being the king for a while. But, the amount of restrictions the girl had amazed her in the worst way. It made her realize how fortunate she was to be able to do all of what she did back home in Rose. She knew the kingdom was pretty unorthodox compared to Sheena, but she didn’t think that things were this different.

She thought of something that might be able to help, “What if… I helped you? Like with all this living stuff. The fact that I’m here right now probably means I’m on good terms with your father, so maybe we can see each other even after tonight.”

The smile on Historia’s face was something that Ymir hopes she never forgets. The princess was absolutely ecstatic. She grabbed Ymir’s hand holding it in hers, “Really?! You’d do that?”

The second Historia grabbed her hand, Ymir felt something. It was like a shock ran through her body, filling her with a heat that enveloped her entire being. She tried to push the feeling away, but she could feel the heat rising up into her cheeks. “I- I mean I think I’ll be able to. It’s really not a big deal.”

Historia threw her arms around Ymir, the volume of her dress held her back, but she hugged the king as close to her as she could manage. Ymir sat there dumbfounded as the princess thanked her over and over again as her arms stayed wrapped tightly around her waist. A smile creeped onto her face, the happiness she felt was nowhere near the kind she felt around Annie and Jean. She wrapped her arms around the princess, leaning down to hold her back as she whispered a soft, “You’re welcome”.

The king was the first to let go. She extracted herself from Historia’s arms and told her that she’d be sending her letters when she got back to Rose. She stood up from the bench, “Well, don’t you think we should head back inside? I’m getting kind of cold.”  
The blonde girl stood up and fixed her dress before following Ymir down the cobblestone path that led back to the ballroom. The trees were sparse here, mostly concentrated in the crescent shaped clearing they bordered, but there were enough to offer some sort of cover.

She trailed a bit from Ymir, eyes scanning the trees around them. In the covering she saw a pair of steel gray eyes. It was commander Levi. He shot her a glance, inaudibly questioning what brought the two outside. Historia took her eyes away from him and sped up to catch up to Ymir. The taller girl looked down at her, as she found a place to walk beside her.


	4. Power in the North

In the East there was the Kingdom of Sheena, the Kingdom of Rose in the West, and the Kingdom of Maria in the North. Maria was relatively isolated by hill filled plains and rivers, but clear paths and bridges cut through the wild. Though the path was clear cut, dust settled on them without the hooves of horses and the wheels of carriages to keep it from settling. 

The walls of the Kingdom stood tall and daunting, spires shaped like speartips lined the turrets. In the castle lived the Braun family. Dolion and Karina ruled their people with an iron fist. Citizens regarded the royal family as if they were on the same level of gods and were forced to live on the outskirts of the walls. The people were mainly sustenance farmers, producing barely enough to feed their families. The winters here were cold and harsh, leaving the people struggling and starving while the royal family lived at large.

Between Dolion and Karina, they had one child. A son of the name Reiner. He was 18 now, living his entire life isolated in the castle. His parents threw him into the knights regiment of the kingdom’s military once he reached the minimum age. There he saw the hardships that lay outside of the castle. He grew to hate it.

The rations he received consisted of thin soup and the unleavened bread, the same as the poor families outside of the walls. He’d go to bed with his stomach turning and cramping, unable to cope with the drop in food quality. He absolutely despised every living second in the training camp. But, he made one friend there. Bertholdt Hoover was Reiner’s age, hailing from a farming family outside the walls. Unlike Reiner, he chose to join in hopes that with a better life inside the walls, one where he would be able to send money back to his family. The main hope was that he would be able to give his family a better life. 

The two met during a ruck training. Rain poured down on the group and Bertholdt struggled under the weight of his pack, constantly tripping over his own feet as he tried to keep the pack on his shoulders. Behind him, Reiner picked up his pace yelling to the boy, “Pick up the pace! We’ll just have to do it again if we can’t finish!”

Reiner came up to the boy’s side and encouraged him to speed up and find the strength in himself to move on. The rain gave them both a renewed sense of vigor as they pushed on together, falling into step.

Exhausted at the finishing line, the two used their packs as makeshift chairs and Reiner saw his first piece of kindness during all his time at the camp. Bertholdt’s eyes crinkled as he smiled at his new friend, “Thank you, I probably wouldn’t have finished if it wasn’t for you.”

Training lasted 3 long and grueling years. After graduation the two parted ways, Reiner returned to the castle and Bertholdt went to his first assignment. Upon returning home the young prince spent days begging his father to give his friend an assignment in the castle. The king saw this as his son’s first real sense of humanity. Before his son left for training he’d often scoff at the peasants saying that it was their fault for not being born with royal blood. Training showed him hardship and forced him into the squalor that the peasants lived in. And now he wanted to save his one friend from it.

Bertholdt was appointed as personal protection to the king, along with seasoned veteran Gelgar. Often, Gelgar was off drinking on the job, taking the young knight with him to local pubs. Bertholdt didn’t really mind it though. He understood that Gelgar might have been through some things that he can’t even imagine and how stressful the job might be. Reiner saved him from most of the stressful and hard jobs in the regiment. Sometimes just calling Bertholdt into his quarters just for a game of chess.

Sometimes the cruelty of Reiner was more noticeable than usual. He sat in his room a book in his hands. It was a collection of records left from the war between Sheena and Rose. From what he knew the war took place 3 years before his birth and all that was left were sparse recordings and memories living in the people of all three kingdoms. Maria had sided with and aided the people of Sheena, fullying aligning themself with the interests of King Rod Reiss. 

At this time the people of Sheena were seen as barbaric, unlike their regal and dignified outfit they’ve put on today. The kingdom in the north was cold, not only to their people but those they faced in the war. They stained the land red with blood and enjoyed every second of it. The units from Sheena had watched in disgust as they slaughtered countless people from Rose. 

Dolion, Reiner’s father, was the one to end the war. He took his troops into the heart of Rose’s base camp, slaughtering every knight in their way before finding the king in his planning room. His wife insisted on going with him hoping that she could help the sick and wounded. But the two hardly had any time to form a plan before entering what seemed like a living nightmare. The two sat in terror, unarmed, as they watched Dolion stalk towards them with a wicked, blood-thirsty smile on his face. He demanded that the king and queen give up their land to the allied powers, offering their lives in exchange. When the two refused he laughed, took his sword out of his scabbard, and slit their throats. 

He stayed in the room for a moment. His teeth curled back like a wild dog and he laughed. The blood was still warm on his hands and he made a mental note of it and of the coppery smell. King Rod burst into the room, screaming at the site that laid out before him. 

This wasn’t the plan they had to end the war. In Rod’s tent there was a treaty, already signed by him, stating that the war would peacefully end. He realized that they would get no one this way, that the only want to ensure peace and growth in the kingdom was for this to end now. 

Rod saw it here. Dolion was out for blood. There was no room in his mind for peace and growth. He tasted what it was like to take someone else’s life and he was hooked on it. This solidified something for Rod. There was no room for the kingdom of Maria in the world he wanted to create with Rose.

Dolion’s hand stayed heavy. He grew past the want to draw blood and now he was hooked on the feeling of power. Reiner saw this and fell in love with a sense of power. He decided to try it out today. To see what amount of cruelty he could stomach. 

He cast Bertholdt out of the room and asked Gelgar to stay. Today, he was in charge of controlling the fate of a local doctor and he planned to push it as hard as he could. No matter the sentence and no matter the toll it would take on the prisoner. 

In the throne room his father sat with him. Gelgar stood off to Reiner’s left, flanking the prince on the raised throne platform. His father looked at him, seeing if he was ready to begin speaking to the accused, and when Reiner nodded the King motioned for the guards to open the doors and escort the individual in.

The doors creaked open and the sounds of chains rattling filled the air. Two armed guards walked with them as they entered the throne room. Their hands were shackled together and there was a faint smile on their face, as if they were unaware of the cruelty of the Braun family. 

The two guards kneeled, forcing the prisoner down with them and announced, “Your majesty, I present to you Hange Zoe of Shiganshina district! They are accused of attempted murder after administering experimental medicine not approved by castle executives.”

Hange looked up at the king and prince, looking surprisingly pleased with themself. Reiner knew the laws about this and how changes in the law twisted once it got to healthcare. The punishment for a citizen doing this was usually death or exile. But, for those practicing medicine it was usually a year or two in prison to ensure that there would be no shortage of doctors for the people.

But, Reiner wasn’t feeling as charitable as the laws were. He wanted to test the limits of what he could do with his power as royalty. The thought of a beheading crossed his mind. No, it would be over too soon. 

Exile would work. 

He motioned to Gelgar and the knight stooped down to listen to what the prince wanted to say. He nodded as he listened to the prince’s verdict. It was cruel, but the words of a royal trumped his thoughts and emotions. 

He stood up at the front of the platform, by king Dolion, and announced the verdict. “Hange Zoe! You are hereby exiled from the Kingdom of Maria, you are not permitted to return under any circumstances! Do you understand the fate decided for you?”

Hange’s face dropped. They were mentally prepared for a year or two in jail, but not for being exiled. The land beyond the walls would be almost uninhabitable without any prepared supplies or rations. Judging by the look on the prince’s face, there would be no chance for preparation. Death out there was almost certain. It was spring now, but fall would be coming soon and the cold temperature drops in the north were deadly to those ill prepared. 

The king halted Gelgar and turned to look to the prince. “Reiner, they’re a doctor. Hange is important to Maria and all citizens of the three kingdoms. Doesn’t that seem like grounds for mercy?” 

Reiner scowled at his father. It was supposed to be his verdict and his little mental experiment to run. His response was firm and unwavering, “No. I’ve decided.”

The air between the two was dense and heavy, making the room feel almost suffocating. Dolion sighed and looked down at Hange. They looked up at the king, silently begging for some form of mercy from him. “Hange, you are permitted a horse and a week's supply of food and water. You may take the rest of the day to say your goodbyes to friends and family. Guards will escort you out at sunrise.”

Reiner shot up and yelled in protest,, “This is my case, father those are your words not mine! This doctor, this monster and criminal, needs to be punished for their deeds! They don’t deserve the mercy you’re showing! You’ve gone soft. I’ve learned everything from you and now this? What happened to the fear you used to inject into the people? Hell, this doctor deserves de-”

“Enough Reiner!” The king's voice was shaking with rage at this point, “You don’t know what it means to rule. A good king, a good prince, knows when to show someone mercy and when to show none at all. Leave. This is not your place anymore.”

The prince was taken aback. The case was just stolen out from under him. His father told him it was his decision. That every choice was his to make. That it was only his, that he wouldn’t step in no matter the verdict he chose. Through gritted teeth he ordered Gelgar to come with him and he left the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Almost a week has passed since Hange said goodbye to the safety of Maria. Their rations had lasted longer than they anticipated. But judging by the ways things were going, the food and water wouldn’t last much longer.

They’ve been traveling south-eastern for the past week. From what they remembered, Rose was in that general direction. If they kept heading this way they were sure to see the wall at some point, it’d just be a matter of time. 

They had stopped in a wooded area to give their horse an opportunity to rest. They tied their horse to a nearby tree and looked over the plains. It shouldn’t be too far now, but doubt was starting to set in. They had no compass or any form of navigation and they’ve been going solely off of memory and scattered landmarks. 

Then they heard it. It was faint, but steadily growing louder. Hoofbeats. Hope spread through them and they ran to their horse. After untying him, they mounted and rode to the sound of horses. 

The sun was beginning to set as Jean took charge on an evening border patrol. It was a routine exercise conducted twice a month. It kept the knights familiar with riding on horseback and gave them the opportunity to get some air. It was by far his favorite duty. He’s taken knights Hitch and veteran Hannes along with him. Hitch was a prodigy and an absolute natural with the horses, but Hannes couldn't be farther from her. Hopefully tonight would be able to give him some valuable practical lessons. 

It was one of Hannes’ first time on a horseback expedition after transferring from the sentry unit to cavalry. He was doing better than anyone had expected him to. During training he was assigned one of the most mild and calm horses, Dutch, but even with that he had as much balance as a drunk. Despite that, he progressed after sending countless hours in the stables and training grounds with guidance from Jean. 

The three rode out to the border of the Kingdom. King Ymir ruled all until the edge of the forest, making all land between Maria, Rose, and Sheena neutral ground. Sometimes they’d run into farmers or merchants returning to homes outside of the kingdom’s walls and depending on how much the person was carrying, the knights would give them a ride to their home. It was a peaceful evening, the most they saw were a couple roaming animals.

Jean stopped his troops at the edge of the forest. It gave the three of them a short period to talk and rest, but most important to him it gave him a moment to soak it all in. Since being assigned to the king, he hasn’t been able to go on excursions like this, but when he was allowed he couldn’t be more grateful. It was supposed to be Annie leading this, but the two struck a deal. Jean would have this one and in exchange Annie would be able to sleep in while Jean took care of morning preparations. He closed his eyes as he took in the smell of the fresh air. He breathed it in and held it in as long as he could until his body begged for him to exhale. Deep down, he wanted to stay here forever. 

A voice broke his peace. It was faint, but growing stronger. His eyes shot open and spurred his horse and turned towards it. He could see the person now, they were on horseback and coming towards his group. Instinctively, his hand went to the sword latched onto his belt. He turned back to Hitch and Hannes, “Wait, it’s most likely not a threat. Let them come to us.” The two nodded at him in quiet understanding. 

The figure was right on them now. Their hair was messily thrown up and they wore a beige shirt and white slacks. Jean faced them head on and yelled to them, “Halt! You are intruding on the Kingdom of Rose! State your name and business or we’ll be forced to take you into custody!”

The person’s horse stopped abruptly, slightly bucking up at the sudden stop. They waved over to the trio and yelled back, “My name’s Hange Zoe! I’m a doctor!”

A doctor? All the way out here? Jean looked over the horizon, it was almost dark and the sun was almost completely set. He cursed under his breath, they were already late, they've been gone too long. Hitch spoke up before he could, “Sir, they’re a doctor right? We’ve had a shortage back home so there’s no reason to not bring them back with us. We can question them upon our return, right?”

He nodded, “Right. That seems like the best way to go. Hannes tie their horse to yours we’re bringing them back” He turned back to the doctor, “You will be returning with us!,” he motioned to Hannes, “Hannes here will tie your horse to his and we’ll return to Rose!”


	5. Blood Flow

It had rained yesterday night and the smell of it lingered in the air. The ground was upturned by footsteps and the moist smell of wet dirt and stone hung heavy in the air. The morning looked as if it had been washed clean. The sky was clear and bright and the grass stood tall, green, and strong. 

The king and her knight walked around the perimeter of the grounds, doing their best to take in the peace of early mornings. The knight's sword hung at her waist and would slightly swing with every step she took. Her face was hard and stoic; she stood tall and proud, creating a sense of absolute power and strength that surrounded her. 

But, her companion couldn’t be more opposite. The king didn’t have the sense of regality that her knight had. She stood taller than her knight, but walked with her hands in the pockets of her pants and slightly leaned back. Her eyes drifted from over the walls to the trees around them to how the knight next to her was walking. 

King Ymir’s eyes lingered on the knight this time. Her blonde hair was tied up in the same way it always was, her clothing was neat and tidy, and her glass blue eyes were fixated on the path in front of her. Ymir wasn’t scared of most things, but Annie’s expressions were usually an exception. She had to do something about it. The morning was calm and serene and Annie’s demeanor cut through it like a knife. She mulled it over for a while before finally doing it. Her right hand left her pants pocket and she lightly shoved the knight, “Come on Annie! Chill out the morning’s so nice.”

Annie wavered slightly, but quickly righted herself. Her eyes shot cold daggers at Ymir, prompting a silent “Oh no” in the king’s mind. Her eyes went back to the path in front of her and gave no reply. Going against her better judgement she tried again, “What could possibly be wrong? The air is so nice and cool, there’s a little breeze. Hell! Even the birds are out.” Ymir watched for any changes in expression or any signs of the knight relaxing, but saw none.

The knight sighed and finally responded, “Just not in the mood today. Jean was supposed to be taking the shift this morning, but he got caught up in patrol from last night.”

“Annie I thought we were friends. You really tried to trade out a morning with me for some extra sleep? You know I like you better than Jean.” She poked at Annie who turned to see an almost laughable pout on the king’s face. 

“With all due respect, your majesty, I wanted the extra sleep. Yes, we’re friends, but nothing goes above an extra hour or two of sleep. You’re just a morning person and I’m not.”

A small and quiet “Oh” left the king’s mouth and the two continued walking.

It was just a routine walk around the courtyard. Looping from the castle’s side door to the barracks and training grounds and then back to the side door. The two usually took the time to talk and oversee the morning combat training that was conducted outside of the barracks. But after the news from Annie, the two walked in silence. 

Ymir wasn’t deeply hurt or anything, just getting slightly down on herself. She knew Jean was supposed to be walking with her this morning, but she was hoping that it would be Annie. In all honesty, she was excited to tell Annie about the ball. It’s been 3 days since then and her and Historia have been sending letters back and forth. In them they talked about the possibilities of leaving their kingdoms for a day and just enjoying what laid outside and plans for things that Ymir would teach the princess.

But now didn’t seem like the best time to bring it up. Maybe tomorrow she’d bring it up with Jean. He was a bit thick in the head, but his words were gentle and kind. He was wiser than he looked and almost always offered good advice whenever Ymir came to him. 

The two arrived at the training grounds and stopped to watch for a moment. Her, Annie, and Jean all tried to play an active role in the training process; often opting to train promising knights one on one. She could pick out a few of them and knew them by name. She watched as Sasha Braus weaved her way through an onslaught of attacks, then finally reaching her attacker and bringing her own blade to right above his heart. Ymir saw great promise in her. She was no Annie or Jean, but the instincts the girl had were razor sharp. 

Sasha had been paired with another promising knight, Connie Springer. The three of them had definitely played a role in pairing these two together. Connie wasn’t as agile or as light on his feet as Sasha, but he had the ability to make decisions was as fast as a whip. He knew when to admit defeat, like how at the moment Sasha’s blade was digging through his chainmail and into his chest, but more often than not, he was able to get himself out of sticky situations. 

The two knights detached from each other and returned to their starting positions. Annie and Ymir watched as the two circled each other, it was like watching two big cats fight. They stalked each other focusing on the smallest and slightest movements that indicated any form of movement. 

A hand grabbed Ymir’s shoulder startling her and setting Annie’s training off. There was no time and no room for her to stop and think, leading her to letting her instincts take full control. It was a move she learned from her father, becoming what was arguably her signature. She moved to the side of the figure and kicked the back on their knee, causing them to stumble. She took the opportunity to grab them from under the arm and wrapped her arms around them, then drove them both to the ground. The force of the blow sent bits of loose earth into the air. Her arms were linked around the person’s throat, applying pressure to their throat right below the Adam’s apple. Below her, Annie heard a groan from impact and felt the hands of the figure begin clawing at her arms.

Above them Ymir stood in almost the exact same position. Behind them training had stopped and all eyes were on the scene unfolding. All Annie was focused on was restraining the person who had come up behind them no matter the cost. She heard the king speaking as her arms stayed wrapped around the person’s throat. Her mind cut out most of the chatter from the knights around them, but Ymir’s voice cut through, “Jeez Annie, you know I can defend myself. You know, I appreciate it, but leave some of the fun for me.” 

The king squatted down and balanced on the balls of her feet. Through clenched teeth Annie said, “Your majesty, I need you to stay back. We don’t know how dangerous they are.” The king ignored her request and continued on, seemingly analyzing the situation.

“Wait… is that Jean?” 

His teeth were gritted as he struggled to get his words out with Annie’s arm around his neck, “Yes! Yes, it's Jean. Now let me go, I can breathe.”

Annie softened her grip and released her arm from Jean’s neck. She detangled herself from him and stood up. As she brushed the dirt off of her pants with her palms, Jean laid on the ground catching his breath and cursing under his breath. He let out a cough and rubbed his throat, “Christ Annie, what’d you do that for?”

She looked down at Jean, who has made no attempts at getting up, “You know what our job is, right? I’d expect you to have done the same to me if the roles were reversed. Plus you should know better than to just grab someone without making your presence known.”

Ymir still was at almost level Jean was at on the ground. She was smiling, trying hard to suppress her laughter. She stood up and offered a hand to Jean. He gladly accepted and let her pull him up. She let out a laugh as she looked at the two of them. Annie’s arms were crossed against her chest and Jean stood beside her, looking her up and down as he rubbed his throat. She stood in front of the both of them and smiled as she clapped her hands together, “Well! That’s one way to get us all together.” 

The three walked back to the castle together. Jean looked tired, his hair looked as if he’d just woken up and his clothes were wrinkled. He looked like he had gotten no sleep. Which wouldn’t be incredibly surprising; the knight often stayed up to sketch what he found on nights after border patrols. But, it didn’t really seem like that was the case this time. Ymir, finally broke the silence between them, “Jean,” his head perked up like a dog at the sound of his name, “was there something you needed me for?”

His hand went to the back of his neck, nervously rubbing the exposed skin in an effort to soothe his nerves. His eyes went from the ground and met the king’s; they were wide and expecting an answer. Behind her Annie was shooting a glare at him, trying to get him to just spit it out already. Jean mustered up the courage and started to explain himself, “Well, when we were out last night, Hitch, Hannes, and I ran into someone.” 

His eyes were fixated on the ground as he spoke but after he got this sentence out they wandered up to the king’s gaze. Ymir looked interested. She seemed to have perked up and there was a sort of glisten in her eyes. With a motion of her hand, she told him to carry on with what he had to say.

Jean nervously cleared his throat and continued, “They must have been traveling by horseback for some while, it was obvious by their clothing and how the horse was acting. You know how they get kind of skittish when they haven't had enough food and rest? I could tell just by that. Judging by the mannerism of the horse. I didn’t pay too much attention to the person though. I mean not until we got back to the castle. I fed the horse and everything, he’s in the stables.” His voice trailed off as he looked from Annie to Ymir.

Annie looked bored, which wasn’t that far from the usual. But, she looked annoyed too. Which was also understandable, he’d gone back on a deal and cheated her out of some sleep. His eyes went up from Annie and to the king. She was looking right back at him, as if she was expecting something from his. She took a big inhale, clasped her hands together, and spoke, “Jean, I need you to just get to the point.”

“Oh yeah, sorry,” Jean took a breath and continued, “we met a doctor out there by the forest. From direction, they seemed to be coming from Maria.” The name of the kingdom hung heavy in the air and stopped them in their tracks. Annie’s eyes widened at the name, the reasons as to why they’d find someone from Maria ran through her head. Ymir’s fists unconsciously clenched as the name reached her ears. It caught their attention and held it in a vice grip. Jean continued as he looked over the knight and king’s nonverbal responses. “Upon arrival, we gave the doctor some food and questioned them as they ate. Their name is Hange Zoe. They were exiled from the Kingdom of Maria earlier this week. Charges were experimental medicinal treatments and radical thinking that went against the orders of the Braun family. As we speak, they are in the dungeon before the castle. Your majesty, what would you like us to do?”

Ymir stood there for a moment, taking in the situation at hand. Maria had a reputation of shunning those with any kind of free thinking. All education was made by the advisors of the royal family and were run by the king for approval. The censorship was rampant and there truly was no telling if the doctor had done something wrong or just went against the king’s words. After taking the time to roll the thought over in her mind she looked to Jean, “Bring Hitch here. You and I will go down to question them,” she paused for a moment and turned her head to Annie, “You as well. Come armed, all three of you.”

The air in the dungeon was damp and hung heavy, seeming to cling to everything in the expanse of the room. To Hange it wasn't horrible, they’ve seen and lived worse. There was ample food and water and a place to sleep. So, to them this was livable and better than Maria. In general there was nothing that they would miss about Maria. Except for maybe their medical practice, but being in a kingdom with such a high population meant they wouldn’t be out of work for long. 

Their thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of feet striking stone steps. Someone was here. No, multiple people. There was quiet and soft chatter as the sound of footsteps grew closer. The only thing that they could make out from the hushed tones and whispers were hints of their name. 

The figures arrived. Three of them were obviously knights and visibly armed. They recognized two of them, Hitch and Jean, they were the ones that brought them down here. Hitch had brought them food the night of and Jean had insisted on bringing them sheets to sleep on. There were two people they didn’t recognize though. Her blonde hair was tied up and her eyes alone seemed like daggers. She was shorter than Jean, Hitch, and the other, but the certain air she had around her made her seem dangerous. A sword hung at her side and she didn’t seem like she’d hesitate to use it. The last had the same type of danger that the blonde had. She wore dark brown slacks and a black collared dress shirt. It went into a gentle V shape and was tied with black thread. Her face was freckles and her brown eyes were warm, directly contrasting the firmness of her gaze. 

The brunette walked up the bars of the cells and reached her hand out to take one in her grasp. Her brown eyes met their own and the girl smiled. “Hange Zoe, yes?”  
Hange adjusted their glasses and nodded hesitantly. The brunette continued, “And you’re from the Kingdom of Maria.” They nodded once again. She continued, “I think,” she raised a finger and pointed at Hange, “I’m supposed to decide your fate, for a second time.” They sighed, getting out of this situation wouldn’t be anywhere near easy, word of their exile had probably reached Rose already.

However, the girl smiled at her, melting away the tough demeanor. “Now I think we should get introductions out of the way.” She motioned to the blonde to her left, “Dame Leonhart, commander of the knights of Rose. You may know the other two, Sir Kirstein tucopolier of the knights of Rose and section-commander of cavalry units. Beside him is Dame Dreyse. And I am King Ymir of Rose. Now, can you tell us a little about yourself?”

They stood in their cells awestruck to some degree. They had no interest in royalty or the royal families, but King Ymir was something else. If they had any chance of making out of this alive, it would be because of her. They looked at the four pairs of eyes watching them and mustered the courage to start, “As you know, I am Hange Zoe. I was exiled from Maria from King Dolion,” the name alone seemed to strike a chord in the onlookers, “I was practicing a new technique to try to save this woman. I call it bloodletting. You see, I believe that if you were to bleed the sickness out of someone, the body would make new healthy blood.”

The king cocked her head, “Well, did it work?”

Hange was quick to respond, “Yes actually. It must have saved the woman's life. But, as you can probably figure out, being in the presence of blood and a freely bleeding patient isn’t exactly relieving.” 

Ymir looked to the three knights, “Would anyone like to say anything?” There was silence among them all. She smiled again and turned to Hange. “In exchange for your safety, would you work for me? You seem like a good asset to have, Hange.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back to the gay stuff next chapter and thank you for reading <3


	6. Abrasion

Historia was sat in the carriage on her way to the Kingdom of Rose. Earlier in the week she had met with Erwin, royal advisor, to hash out plans for a visit. He wasn’t the type that’s easy to fool, but he was the kind that would look away from certain things the princess did, giving her some sort of freedom. He was more of a father to her than Rod was and she was grateful for it. If she had gone to her father about this trip it was sure to be shot down, but Erwin seemed almost happy about it. He must have figured out that the visits weren’t any sort of alliance or plan to bring Rose and Sheena closer, but if it times changed the friendship between Ymir and Historia could prove to be useful. 

But, he had of course ordered a knight to come with her. His first choice was, obviously, the Ackermans. They were by far the most skilled and the two knights he trusted the most. However, the king had summoned Levi to the counsel for talks about interkingdom relationships. Erwin would be a part of that counsel as well. Naturally, he turned to Mikasa who thankfully agreed to accompany the princess. She’d be joined by Marco Bodt. He wasn’t nearly as intuitive or as strong as Levi, but the kid would hopefully counteract how cold and threatening Mikasa could be. 

Mikasa sat with the carriage driver outside. The terrain was pretty enough to keep her from getting bored. It was a peaceful ride, only interrupted by the occasional jostle caused by some unevenness in the dirt road. They had left in the late morning and now the sun has reached its peak in the sky and she could make out the faint outline of the Kingdom of Rose’s walls. She took the time she had left until arrival and used it to double check her equipment. Her sword hung at her waist and she tightened the strap connecting it to her belt. She adjusted her chainmail chestplate and was then settled, satisfied with her handiwork. The last of the time until arrival was time she could take to relax. She tried to become comfortable in the wooden seat, sighed, and shut her eyes as the faint breeze rolled over her. 

Ymir wasn’t usually the impatient type, but this was definitely an exception. It was about midday and Historia would be here soon. She paced the area outside of the castle entrance as Annie sat on the steps leading up to the large doors. The blonde sat with her head propped up by her hand and her elbow resting on her knee as she watched the king pace back and forth. Ymir stopped in her tracks for a moment and turned to Annie. She smoothed her hands over her clothes and asked, “I look fine, right?”

The knight was a bit puzzled at the question. It was her usual outfit, a dark gray dress shirt and black slacks, but she nodded a yes in response. Ymir audibly exhaled and murmured an unsure “Okay good.” She was visibly anxious and Annie couldn’t quite understand why. One of the things that made Ymir so respected and such a good ruler was how she could keep herself cool and collected throughout any situation. But, this presented no threat, least that Annie could see, and the king looked about ready to crack. The whole thing seemed a bit off to her. She was asked to come unarmed, which wouldn’t be a problem with the training she’s been through; her body was a weapon in itself. Jean had been sent to the barracks and ordered to wait. Yet another thing that didn’t make sense to Annie.

But, once she saw the princess of Rose walk in flanked by two knights it made sense. One was a taller girl with black hair cut to her chin and a steely black gaze. It almost felt physically chilling as she sensed herself getting looked over. If needed, Annie knew she could probably take her on in a hand to hand fight, but she still had a slight feeling of doubt that was heavy in her chest. The other was a boy. Not nearly as big a threat as the girl seemed to be. She’s learned how to read people pretty well in her time as a knight and she could tell that he was soft. If something were to happen she could see him as the type to, of course, draw his sword, but merely point it at her as a threat and be too scared to make any type of move.

Ymir’s face lit up as soon as the princess entered her line of sight. She felt blood rush up to her cheeks and the warmth spread throughout her body. It was a bit shocking to see. It’s been a while since the two had seen each other and honestly she didn’t expect Historia’s visit to be approved. She knew about Erwin, the advisor to King Reiss, and he definitely wasn’t the type to put anyone into something he saw as dangerous. He probably caught onto the true reasoning behind the visit, he was a smart man, so he probably also saw the tactical essence it could hold.

But, she certainly wasn’t concerned with strategy at the moment. The second Historia’s eyes met her own, her face broke out into a smile. In a way it felt like the moment made everything fall into place. The two foreign knights seemed to melt away as Historia smiled back at her. All that she could feel was the blush spreading across her cheeks as the breeze attempted to chill her and bring her back down. Her arms hung stiff at her side, but she managed to raise her right to wave to the princess.

As Historia walked to her, she felt her anxieties bubbling up again beneath her skin all over again. Historia’s dress was a light yellow, yards plainer than the dress she saw her in at the ball. She smiled up at Ymir and let out a small “Hello.” 

The taller girl panicked and messily bowed, “And to you, your majesty.” Historia let out a laugh, only making Ymir somehow blush even harder. Behind them, Annie’s hand moved to cover her mouth, the second hand embarrassment was near painful. The king quickly stood back up, nearly hitting her head against the blonde’s. 

Historia laughed as Ymir looked down at her. “You know, you don’t have to do all that kind of stuff. We’re friends after all.”

The dark haired knight walked up to the castle steps and stood before Annie. She moved to look up at the knight and paid no mind, if she wasn’t going to introduce herself she wouldn’t either. The girl above her huffed, apparently frustrated with the situation, and extended her hand for Annie to shake, “Marshal Mikasa Ackerman, don’t you believe it’s rude to not address your superiors?”

She smirked at what Mikasa said to her. Her hands moved to her knees and she stood up. The Marshal’s dark eyes followed her every move, right down to Annie shifting her weight from her right to her left. She took the knights hand in her own, it was cold and her grip was tight directly mirroring the girl it belonged to, “Commander,” the Marshal seemed taken aback and her eyes widened at the title, “Annie Leonhart, don’t you think it’s rude to address your superiors that way?” 

Mikasa looked thoroughly annoyed now. Rank really didn’t mean anything to her, but it apparently meant something to this girl. Although they were on foreigh soil, the knights were expected to know the higher ups from the neighboring kingdoms and respect them like they were from the same land. When Annie made Commander there was no real celebration or thought about it, although Ymir did bring her a few things in celebration. The expression on the Marshal’s face was near laughable, but she kept her bearing stoic and hard.

Steel gray eyes clashed with sapphire blue, almost making the air around them crackle as if there was an electrical current running through. The two were sizing each other up and looked as if they were about ready to fight. Behind Mikasa the other knight, Marco, watched them in silent shock. He knew better than to interfere with his superior at times like these, even though it seemed like the situation was about ready to escalate. Ymir and Historia seemed completely unbothered though, the two stood in the same spot as before the knights went to introduce themselves to Annie. They stood talking and laughing, completely unaware of the two knights that were only a few feet away from them. Annie stepped back and went around the knight, making her way over to the king and princess. As she walked past she heard a small “Tsk” and the sound of the knight’s frustration brought a smile to her face. 

The five of them walked to the barracks in the courtyard of the castle. The three knights walked behind the two royals in silence. Mikasa and Marco walked, in step, behind Annie and the faint sound of their swords brushing against chainmail leggings was the only thing that broke the tense silence between them. 

In front of them Ymir and Historia were hashing out the plan for today. Through letters the two had discussed the possibility of Historia learning how to wield a sword. The princess was absolutely ecstatic about it. They knew that it wasn’t a skill that could be learning in one day, but today would be about the basics.

When they arrived at the armory, they were greeted by a rather sweaty Jean. He was right outside the barracks sharpening his sword. He had on a heavy apron over his usual day clothes and leather gloves on his hand. His white shirt collar popping out from the apron softened the look. Along with his gift with horses, the boy was also rather skilled in weapon maintenance and could probably find employment as a blacksmith if he ever needed a change of career. He looked up from his whetstone and smiled at the king and Annie, “Hey! You two came just in time, I need permission to get at your swords. Might as well sharpen them too while I’m out here.” The king motioned to their guests and Jean set his tools down to introduce himself. He took Historia’s hand in his own and bowed, “Your majesty, Tucoplier Jean Kirstein at your service.” The formality of the introduction elicited a giggle from Historia and Jean smiled up at her as if getting a laugh out of the princess was his goal. 

He shook hands with the two knights from Sheena as well. There was a slight pause when he moved from Mikasa to Marco, “Don’t I know you?” Marco’s face lit up as Jean talked to him. The two boys had become friends at the annual ball, but distance and work had driven them apart. Frankly, Marco was excited to see him. Jean cupped his chin with his hand as he looked the knight over. He broke the seriousness in his face and wrapped his arms around Marco in a hug, “I’m just playing with you! Of course I remember you Marco.” Marco let out a small sigh of relief as he settled into Jean’s embrace. 

“Now, if you guys will follow Annie and I back here, we’ll lead you to the armory,” he looked back at Historia who shot a smile at him, “If the princess here wants to learn to fight, we have to get her a blade first.” 

The two knights from Rose led the small group back to the armory. It was located in the barracks and the two greeted and waved at their knights as they walked past. Jean lowered his voice and asked Annie, “What’s the girl’s deal? Not the princess, I like her, the knight. She’s acting like someone’s cursed her family name or something.” He paused and looked at Annie, “Wait, did you? It’s something you’d do, but please say you didn’t.”

Annie let out a small laugh and quickly coughed to cover up the noise. The sound was effectively covered up by the cough, but the smile on her face wasn’t so easily suppressed, “Honestly? Seems like she’s got a bit of an authority problem. I’m guessing that she was all high and mighty back home and she doesn’t like being seen as someone that’s second in command.” She stopped for a moment and looked up at Jean, her voice suddenly going from light and joking to serious and almost cold, “Listen, from what I know, Ymir back there, wants us to do a little demonstration for her little princess. I think it’s just gonna be a little sparring and some technique. But, if it comes to sparring let me step in. This Mikasa girl seems like the kind of person that jumps at the sound of something like this and you know how much fun I find in putting someone in their place.”

When they arrived at the armory, Jean ran ahead of the group and stood in front of the worktable in the middle of the room. He rubbed the nape of his neck and he looked embarrassed of the space, “Sorry about the mess, definitely wasn’t expecting this many visitors back here. But we’ll still get you a blade, even if it looks like there was a tornado in here.” Truth be told it was a bit messy. Jean’s sketches for blades and hilts were sprawled all over the table alongside various whetstones and files necessary for sharpening and general maintenance. 

Ymir’s hand was resting on Historia’s shoulder. She was painfully aware of how close she was to the princess, the room definitely wasn’t designed for this many people to be standing around in it. She looked around the room and spotted a rack of short swords, she bent down closer to Historia, “He’ll probably get you one of those. They’re a lot lighter and smaller than the usual swords.” Historia looked over to them and the sense of amazement in her blue eyes made Ymir smile without her even realizing. “You see those over there?” She pointed to a very small rack, “Those are cavalry swords. They’re usually used by knights on horseback, but Jean prefers them,” at the sound of his name Jean popped up from the basket he was rummaging through and gave the two a quick wave.

Historia waved back to Jean and shifted her focus to the taller girl that stood above her, “What kind do you use?” 

She paused for a second as her eyes scanned the armory, looking for something similar to what she uses. As she looked she hummed softly and pursed her lips, a cute expression in the  
princess’ eyes. 

Historia’s eyes were on the king’s face as she looked around the room. The light was low, but she still looked as beautiful as she had on the night of the ball. For someone that could look so menacing and downright threatening, her features could be so soft. The slope of her nose was so gentle and the bow of her lips looked so soft. The way her features were so soft at times like these amazed her. In a way it was like Ymir could flip a switch and change herself. The first time they met, she looked so lost at the ball. Her eyes were hard and her lips were tight, making her seem so stiff and scary. But now, she looked so calm. It was the same way she looked when they talked at the courtyard under the stars

But, the king’s voice interrupted her thoughts and jostled her back to reality, “There!” She extended a finger and pointed to a lone sword, “It’s called an arming sword. It’s kinda standard issue, which is why there’s only one here, but I really like it. You see the hilt? It’s the little bit before the grip,” Historia’s gaze went from the blade itself and to the “U” shaped metal at the base of the blade. Honestly, she didn’t really understand all of what Ymir was talking about, but she sounded so passionate and happy that she didn’t mind it. She nodded and Ymir continued on, “You can like, grab? Yeah kind of grab someone’s sword with it. I’ve done it to Jean and Annie a couple of times, actually. It makes them so mad; it’s the funniest thing.”

Ymir was laughing at the memory in her head and Annie shot her a glance, “Don’t get cocky Ymir that was months ago. Don’t go around thinking that you could still pull off a trick like that.”

The king just laughed harder at this. She jokingly mocked the knight, “Ooo Annie so scary. What’re you gonna do? Kick me? Please I’d like to see you get a hit on me.” She looked down to Historia with a smile on her face, “What do you think, your highness? I could totally beat her any day.”

Honestly, no. Historia didn’t think that she could. Annie definitely seemed like she’s spent hours honing her skills. Probably spending some of those hours finding her errors in the match with Ymir and planning how to counter her moves. But, she wanted to be supportive. She nodded in response and Ymir let out a laugh. “See Annie! Even she thinks that I can. All the knight did was roll her eyes in response before moving over to where Jean stood measuring the weight and length of two short swords. 

Jean had picked out her blade and loaned her some clothes. Historia had changed from her usual gown to standard issue knights attire and she was absolutely ecstatic about it. It was obvious to her that Mikasa didn’t approve, but that would be a worry for later today when they return. She’d definitely get an earful from both Erwin and Levi once Mikasa reported back to them. However, Marco seemed happy about it. Since they’ve arrived, he’s seemed a lot happier than he’s ever been back home and Sheena. It seemed like the knight Jean was playing a big role in it. Now that they were all spread out in the courtyard, she noticed him stealing glances at Jean and softly smiling to himself as he looked down at his boots.

Ymir walked to the front of her group and clapped her hands together to get everyone’s attention, “Alright! So from what I know you’re all pretty skilled knights, I mean if you weren’t you wouldn’t be here. The plan’s to teach Historia how to at least hold a sword. Nothing too fancy. And maybe a bit of sparring to show her how things go? I was thinking of Annie and Jean, but if any of our new friends want to, I won’t complain.”

From behind Historia Mikasa walked up to the front of the small crowd. She looked over to Annie as she spoke, “I’ll do it, it seems like some fun.”

Annie met her gaze and responded, “Then I will too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still upset about the fact that we didn't get to see Annie and Mikasa spar ngl


	7. Clash

In the council room of Sheena sat King Rod Reiss, General Erwin Smith, Commander Levi Ackerman, and King Dolion of Maria. The air of the room was stiff, as if all the life had been sucked out of it. Dolion had walked in as Erwin settled in and started to read over the talking points of today’s meeting. For starters he was to speak with Commander Ackerman about training of new knights and the rising threat of bandits surrounding the road from Sheena to Rose. But, the presence of Dolion shot that plan down. 

Erwin sat with his eyebrows knit together in frustration and his fists clenched underneath the table in his lap. He saw the Commander looking to him from the corner of his eye. Levi’s face was emotionless and stoic. He raised his eyebrows at Erwin’s apparent outburst of emotion and then shifted his focus to the King of Maria. He stepped towards Dolion and bowed, “Your majesty, an honor to have you.” Levi righted himself and gestured for Erwin to follow suit and do the same. 

There were times for respect, Erwin knew this and lived by it, but this was not the time for it. When he entered the service at Sheena he was immediately thrown into the depth of the war between the three kingdoms. He saw the effects of Dolion’s decisions and commands. He watched veteran soldiers, that shaped him into who he is today, killed by his men. The lack of mercy and compassion was forever engraved into his mind. There was no way in hell that he was going to stand to greet this man, this monster. 

He took a few steps towards Erwin, who still was seated at the counsel table, with a grin on his face. Dolion placed a hand on the general’s shoulder. “Well, well, well, isn’t this the great General of Sheena? What’s your name again, son? Edward? Something with an E, I know that much.” 

Erwin looked up from the papers in his hands. His eyes met Dolion and he looked as if he was searching for something in them. Something like a shift, something showing the General that he’s changed. That he’s atoned for his wrongdoings. But, the eyes were the same. The same look from when he sent his men to kill the knights and soldiers of Sheena. His voice was hard and unwavering, “General Erwin Smith.”

The king nodded in his direction and walked towards King Reiss. He walked to the head of the counsel table and ran his hand on the tabletop. The wood was a deep mahogany color. There seemed to be hours of work put into it, signified by how smoothly Dolion’s hand moved upon it. He smiled at Rod, who sat trying to put on a brave face, “Now, let’s get to business; shall we?”

The two knights were circling each other like two big cats. The soft, sandy dirt shifted and upturned in response to their movements. Mikasa’s eyes were almost like two black slits as she focused on the other girl. Annie’s were the complete opposite. They were wide and almost playful. They jumped from Mikasa’s eyes, to her blade, and to her feet at the slightest hint at movement. 

Even their stances were different. The two were quite obviously physically strong, but if you examined their stances it was clear who relied on that strength the most. The Marshal stood with both hands on the grip of her sword. It was a heavy blade, a sort of modified claymore, and the weight of it would act as a handicap to someone not accustomed to the heft of it. But, Mikasa didn’t seem phased by it at all. She stood with the edge of the blade pointing towards Annie and angled to make the tip present itself a head above the knight. 

Annie’s stance made it seem like the training of the knights was planets apart instead of miles. Her blade was light and straight, similar to a shortsword but without a fraction of the weight. She held the blade with the tip pointing straight at the Marshal. One hand held the blade and was outstretched in her opponent’s direction while the other was bent at the elbow and held close to her side. 

Behind them Jean was getting impatient. His arms were crossed across his chest and he looked from the two dueling knights to the clear sky above them and back. A hard breath left his lips and he started, “God, if these two don’t do something soon I’m just going to start teaching. They’re just circling, nothing else.” 

The comment made Annie smile. She took it as a cue to make the first move and lunged forward at the knight. A seemingly senseless attack like this was something she didn’t expect to land. It was more of a way to test the waters and see how much skill Mikasa really had. As she expected, the knight deflected her attack and used her blade to bounce Annie’s off. 

With this, styles became more clear. They were both headstrong, but hesitant when the time called for the attribute. Both were more defensive players and waited to analyze an assailant before striking. Mikasa righted herself and gritted her teeth, she knew that Annie met her on skill level and there was a possibility that it surpassed her own, so she would prefer to wait and strike in return to an attack. It didn’t seem like things would play that way. Annie had the same idea in mind and if the two were to both play that game, the match would end in a stalemate. 

The Marshal took a deep breath and lunged forward. Her arms raised slightly above her shoulders and thrust forward. It’s something that Levi had taught her. With a strike from above the opponent would be most concerned with finding a way to block her blade. That and the difference in sword length made her almost certain that Annie wouldn’t be able to effectively block.

A look of shock crossed the Marshal’s face. The blonde had managed to fix her blade underneath her’s and slide her sword on the length of her opponent’s. With a slight shift in her weight and a twist of her body, Annie gained the upper hand. 

Behind them Jean let out an excited cheer. He clapped and laughed as the duel played out in front of him, “Yeah! That’s my Commander! You show ‘em Annie!” Beside him, Historia watched in absolute amazement. She could feel Ymir’s eyes on her, but that didn’t matter nearly as much to her as the events unfolding before her. In front of the group, Mikasa was struggling to gain control over the situation again. 

Mikasa turned her blade around and attempted to strike again. Surely, after the first Annie wouldn’t be able to block another. But Annie was more prepared than she looked. One hand had shifted upward from the grip, onto the flat of her blade, and she used it to push back the Marshal’s sword. She bounced off the sword and let out a loud, and frankly unprofessional, laugh before launching a counter attack. Annie moved backwards and extracted her blade from the lock. Mikasa jumped back, expecting a strike from Annie. The Commander was counting on this exact movement. She drove her knee to the ground, adding momentum to her swing. To Mikasa it seemed like the blonde’s body was dropping to the ground in slow motion. Her mind was scrambling to find some sort of fix, some kind of avenue out. She decided on another downward slash, simply praying that her sword would reach the girl before Annie’s blade greeted her. 

The sound of hardened steel hitting chainmail was faint, but quieted the group standing in observation. Mikasa’s strike was lightning fast, but rushed and unprepared. Annie’s blade had landed on the side of the Marshal’s rib cage with deadly accuracy and she had quickly moved her blade up, effectively blocking Mikasa’s strike. The Marshal held her ground despite the pain from the impact of Annie’s blade and pushed against Annie’s block. It was clear that she had a leverage advantage from the position the Commander was in and Mikasa wasn’t going to give it up that easily. 

Annie’s eyes were dead set on Mikasa’s. The dark brown looked almost black and about as hard as a stone. The Marshal’s teeth were clenched above her and she was putting all her weight in trying to cause Annie’s blade to falter. Keeping her at bay certainly wasn’t an easy feat, honestly Annie was starting to get a bit tired. But, she didn’t want to let go of the demeanor she’s set up. 

She began to stand up and push her weight onto Mikasa’s sword. Her speech came out strained, yet firm as she spoke, “Give it up Mikasa. We both know that after a blow like that, you’d be on the floor bleeding out if we weren’t sparring.” The Marshal seemed to take those words and find absolutely no meaning in them, merely in one ear and out the other. Annie let out a sigh and shifted to stand at her full height. She let out a grunt as she mustered the strength she had left to shove Mikasa’s sword with her own, effectively causing the dark haired girl to land on her backside. 

Annie lowered her sword to her side and looked up at the sky. The sky was a clear blue and the sun was wailing on them relentlessly as it began to start to fall lower into the sky. She could feel sweat from her forehead dripping down onto her brow and running down her chest under her shirt as she closed her eyes and took a second to breathe. 

When she opened her eyes she scanned the training field and returned her sword to the sheath hanging from her waist. Jean was talking to Ymir, Historia, and Marco. The boy was probably already analyzing what he just saw. His wild hand gestures and imaginary sword slashing were making the princess and Marco laugh while Ymir scolded him and told him to calm down before he accidentally hit someone. 

The Marshal was on the ground doing the same as Annie was just a moment ago. She had set her sword down on the ground beside her and had her hands placed on the sides of her neck as she tried to catch her breath. Annie began to walk towards her and she saw Mikasa raise her head to see her movements before laying her head back down. She stopped at her side and softly kicked Mikasa’s sword to the side. The sparring was over now and Annie decided to show a bit of kindness. She extended a hand down to Mikasa to try to help the girl up. The Marshal eyed her wearily and seemed hesitant to take the offer for help. Annie sighed, “Look, I’m not gonna try anything. I just want to help you up, okay?” 

Mikasa’s gaze softened and she grasped Annie’s hand in her own. The blonde felt a kind of warmth and relief in herself as she pulled the girl up and helped her brush the dirt off her back. The two made silent amends and the dark haired girl looked at her with a smile on her face, “We’re gonna do this again and I’ll get you next time.”

“Well now that you two are done trying to kill each other, we can get to what I actually wanted to do.” Ymir guided Historia and the group to the back of the training grounds where the wooden dummies were kept. They were simply made, just spare burlap stuffed with hay in the vague shape of a person. For something so cheaply made they were pretty high maintenance, usually after using them the person would have to take the time to sew any gashes shut or just avoid using the edge of their blade. 

Jean came up behind Ymir, who was showing Historia to the dummy she was going to be using, with sword in hand. The king was explaining a basic fighting stance to Historia, “You’re probably going to be using a fighting stance more like Mikasa’s. It’s easier to move around and more friendly to beginners. Annie’s is more like, how should I put this? More like heavy? It just takes a lot more strength and coordination.” She looked from the dummy down to Historia. The princess’ blue eyes were fixed on her in some sense of amazement. The look brought a slight blush to Ymir’s cheeks and she quickly brought her eyes back to the dummy, trying to not let the princess see the blush flooding her cheeks. Just a little thing like that had Ymir’s brain practically short circuiting and she internally cursed herself and told herself to pull it together. 

As she continued in her explanation she started tripping over her words, “So, uh, you just kind of put one leg up forward to lead with.” When she recovered herself she felt another pair of eyes on her and quickly whipped around. She jumped and saw, to her surprise, Jean was standing there with a sword in his hand. Ymir stood and stared at him. Did he not learn anything from Annie dropping him the last time he did something like this? He waved and smiled at her, “Hi I just wanted to bring this over,” he slightly raised the arm holding the sword. 

Ymir shot a glare at him and motioned for him to come closer, “Come here Jean. A little closer come on,” her head was centimeters away from Jean’s ear and her whisper was curt and sounded a bit mad, “Please Jean, please speak when you come up behind someone. I swear Jean, next time this happens I will get you.” 

As Ymir backed away from him, Jean let out a small laugh. The sound elicited another glare from the king, but it in no way discouraged him. He set the sword down to the left of the training dummy and jogged off to rest of the knights. 

The king sighed and looked down to Historia. She was laughing at what had just happened, “That really scared you?” 

Ymir couldn’t hide her blush now. Frankly, she was a bit embarrassed, but Historia’s laughter brought a smile to her face. She placed her hands on her hips and looked down at the princess, “Hey! If I came up behind you like that I bet you would’ve jumped too.” 

The comment only made Historia laugh harder, “But not that bad! I swear you almost left the ground!” She was about doubled over in laughter and almost in tears. She righted herself and looked up to see Ymir’s blushing face. She was starting to laugh with her now and the two found the humor in the moment. She caught her breath and wiped a single tear away. “Okay, okay back to it.” The two made eye contact and the too busted into laughter again. 

Behind them the knights were all gathered. Annie and Mikasa were starting to make friends. The two chatted about how training differed between the two kingdoms and the different fighting stances the two had. Mikasa had asked her why she went a different route from traditional training. Annie stood with her arms crossed against her chest, “Well, I learned it from my father. He wasn’t around too much when I was growing up, but when he was he did a lot of teaching. The job he had was teaching some of the knights different forms of fighting techniques for flexibility in battle, all that kind of stuff.”

Jean butted in and bumped his shoulder into Annie’s to grab her attention. Both her and Mikasa watched him as he spoke, “Do you think they’ll ever get to really learning something or are they just gonna stand there and laugh?” Beside him Marco let out a laugh as he noticed the king and princess. Jean looked over his shoulder at him, “God, not you too.”

“You know, I don’t see them getting much done,” Annie pointed to the two at the dummy, “There’s something up with them I swear. Ymir’s not like this with anyone else.” 

“What are you jealous Annie?” Jean was teasing her, which he knew probably wasn’t a good idea. “Don’t worry Historia’s too nice to replace you. Ymir needs a bit of mean in her life and you got a lot of that.”

Annie pointed a finger at Jean’s chest as she formed a rebuttal. Her tone became harder and harder as she spoke, “Listen here horse boy, I’ll drop you into the stables over there if you don’t shut up. You know you’re not even half as strong as me, so go ahead and stop while you’re ahead.” 

The two settled into a silence among them all as they watched Ymir attempt to teach Historia some basic movements. In all honesty, she wasn’t too good of a teacher, but despite that the princess seemed to be making some progress. 

They all heard a door slam behind them and footsteps hitting the cobblestones of the path. They all watched as Moblit shut the castle door and ran over to them. Behind him, the door was pushed open again. Hange, his new co-advisor, followed after him. They called out his name as they tripped over a loose stone and stopped to regain their balance. “Hey! Hey Moblit wait!”

He kept running and yelled as he ran, “Come on Hange! Being quick is part of the job, we have something important to report!”

Moblit approached them and skidded to a halt in front of the knights. He looked over his shoulder and watched as Hange walked up to the group. He brought his hand to his face, “Please excuse them, they just started 2 or 3 days ago.”

When Hange arrived Moblit motioned for them to report the situation at hand. They thought for a moment, but then started, “Oh, yes. There’s been a report from King Reiss. The road connecting us to Sheena is being closed for the night. We’re being asked to house his daughter and the two knights,” they paused to wave at Marco and Mikasa and the two hesitantly waved back, “I’m sure that Jean and Annie already know, but there's been a group of bandits robbing carriages for valuables.”

Moblit stopped them there, “Thank you Hange. We’re being asked to help the knights of Sheena assist in controlling the situation. They’ve gotten bolder and from what I know they just held an operation in broad daylight. I’d like you and your squad to deploy tonight and provide assistance. I believe you will be rendezvousing with Commander Ackerman and his squad. Annie we need you here to keep guard of the castle and gates.”

Mikasa butted in with a question, “And,sir, what about us? Marco and I would be more than happy to assist.”

“We have specific word from King Reiss; you two are not permitted to leave the Kingdom of Rose under any circumstances.” He shifted back to Jean, “Go prepare your squad, you deploy as soon as the sun goes down.”


	8. Night Terrors

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took a little break for the holiday but! Back to the fic

Night had fallen on the three kingdoms and the walls of Castle Rose stood high and daunting. The walls and spire tops cast ghoulish shadows, but inside the walls were safety and comfort. Jean knew that once he got back he would have a soft bed and warm meal waiting for him and that was keeping him going. The cold of the night was nipping his nose and he pulled his cloak closer to him in an attempt to get warmer. It was secured to his chainmail and he could feel the cold metal sapping the warmth from his body. 

The rest of the squad was lagging behind. Jean always had gear ready by his horse solely because of how much he enjoyed these outside missions, so he couldn’t blame them for not being ready. He was taking Hitch and Sasha. It’d be Sasha’s first time out and the first being a night mission was unorthodox, but he knew that she would be more than capable. He looked up to the gate he stood outside of. The light from the flames of the mounted torches on the walls burned his eyes and he blinked away the dark spots dancing in his line of sight. He thought to himself, if these knights didn’t hurry up he’d drag them out by the collars of their shirts. 

When Hitch and Sasha finally did arrive, it seemed like Sashs had to drag the other knight out there. Sasha’s arm was linked around the blonde’s and seemed to be scolding her, “I mean come on Hitch you’re my senior. And tonight’s gonna be so exciting! I don’t even know how you managed to fall asleep before we were supposed to come out here.” Hitch simply rolled her eyes at the other girl and kept walking behind her. 

Sasha planted herself in front of Jean and saluted, “Sasha Brause and Hitch Dreyse, reporting for duty sir!” 

Jean snickered at the formality of it all and he could see Hitch doing the same. These trainees were all the same. There was a certain stiffness they all had and it was laughable to all the other more senior knights. 

To her right Hitch tapped her boot with her own, “Chill out Braus it’s just Jean, nothing to worry about. And it’s Dame Dreyse, you’ll get the title too once you officially graduate.”

The trainee started to argue and protest it with Hitch. Jean cleared his throat and stopped the argument, “Alright come on, we got things to do tonight. Hitch take her other to the stables and get your horses saddled. If you don’t mind, could you get mine too? I’ve got to talk something over with the gate guards real fast.” Hitch nodded and muttered a “come on” to Sasha who eagerly followed behind her. 

It was even colder once they started riding. Jean’s nose felt as if it was about to fall off and his fingers were in a vice grip on the reins of his horse. They weren’t traveling too far from the walls; only about 5 miles, halfway to the kingdom of Sheena. The two weren’t awfully far apart once you looked at it from outside of the walls. 

The trio was coming up on a lit section of the path and Jean motioned for them to slow their pace. The whinnies of horses could be heard as they moved in closer and he noticed a group of three steeds tied to a tree. He stopped his squad and dismounted. The other two knights followed his lead and tied the reins to a tree near the other. Sasha and Hitch walked behind Jean, their fun demeanor now gone. They approached a lit up tent and ducked inside. 

Inside stood three nights. One was a blonde tall man with his hair tied up, another was a shorter woman with silvery hair, and the last was a shorter man with jet black hair. They stood talking about the plan for the night’s operation. The taller man looked over his shoulder and saw the squad behind him. He turned back to the group and they turned to Jean’s squad. Jean moved to introduce himself and his group, Tucrcopolier Kirstein, Dame Dreyse, and Knight Braus from Rose, sir. We’re here to aid in the operation led by Commander Ackerman,” he paused and motioned to the taller man, “And that is you, yes?”

The man laughed and motioned to the shorter one, “No he is.” Jean stood there for a moment in shock. He did not expect the Commander to be this short. The taller man stopped his laughter and motioned to himself and the girl, “Eld Gin and Rico Brezenska.” 

Commander Ackerman introduced himself and shook hands with the knights of Rose. He motioned for them to join the group huddle, “Nice of you to finally join us. Let’s see how we’re going to get this operation done, hopefully you guys work fast. I'd like to be in bed as soon as possible.” 

“Is it really necessary to have two knights with me tonight? I can take care of myself, you know.” Ymir was still dressed in her day clothes and was sprawled out on her bed. The ceiling was exposed rafter beams made out of a dark wood. There was nothing special about it, but she busied herself by trying to count the visible rings on the wood. She could never get past the 30s though, her thoughts had a habit of disrupting the process. 

Annie was leaning against the wall and watched the king try to keep herself occupied. She sighed, “You know the rules. You have to have two of us here when there’s any kind of threat occurring outside of the walls. Honestly, you’re lucky that Moblit didn’t have me tag along with Jean. If I wasn’t here you’d probably have Hannes and Connie and I doubt they’d want to be in your room just to keep you company.” Ymir rolled onto her side, propped her head up on her hand and looked at Annie. She stayed like this and Annie avoided making eye contact by darting her eyes from the walls to the slit of light beneath the door. Her eyes finally met the king’s and she rolled her eyes at the little smile on the girl’s face, “What? Spit it out.”

“You took Historia to a room, right?” There it was again. Annie couldn’t wrap her head around Ymir’s apparent fixation on the princess. The two of them have been friends for years and Ymir has never had this kind of interest in the little things she did. They cared for each other deeply, but more in a jokingly mean and rude way. 

“No Moblit did, that’s more his kind of stuff. It was either him or Hange. Maybe both, he likes the whole hands on learning thing. Why?”

The king sighed, “Nothing just want to make sure that everything is being taken care of, it’s part of my job after all.” Annie raised an eyebrow, expecting some more thought. Her behavior was definitely more out of the box than it usual was. 

Annie started to wonder and went from possibility to possibility in her head. The king interrupted her thoughts by announcing that she was going to get changed and go to bed, leaving the knight to walk out of the room and stand with Hannes, confused by what was wrong. 

Jean’s seen combat before, but he was never mentally prepared for it. The two squads had set off again, he rode to the left of Commander Ackerman while their two squads trailed behind them. The plan they hashed out was a solid one and left minimal room for error. The knights of Sheena had been investigating the group of bandits for longer than Rose had even known of them and they believe that they’ve found out where they frequent. 

The plan was to corner the group and hopefully arrest them then and there. No need for force, just a quick and simple intimidation job. But, of course, the six of them were armed for precaution. He looked to Levi and waited for the signal to come up. The Commander raised his left hand, signaling for half of them to break up. Jean guided his horse farther to the left and looked back to see Eld and Hitch following his lead. 

Tonight was an exciting one. It was Sasha’s first official operation and she knew that her going on one before Connie would get on his nerves. She’d rub it in his face as soon as they returned and would never let it die down. But, there was a mission to finish first. 

Being away from Jean and Hitch was nerve racking. Jean’s mentored her since day one and Hitch always looked out for her like an older sister would. Being without that safety net was scary, but she knew that she could get through it. The darkness blanketing the land wasn’t easing her nerves either. The moon was full and illuminated the ground and path in front of them, but the edges of the forest stayed almost pitch black. Little things like one of the horses stepping on and cracking a branch scared her. Even the sound of her bow and quiver slapping against her back startled her. 

From what she got from the operation’s brief they were planning on intercepting the group on their usual route towards a small town’s tavern. From what Commander Levi had gathered their base was somewhere in that town and the group would be coming back from a run tonight. They were sighted by Sheena’s patrol earlier today, leading to the road closure, heading towards a larger town in the middle ground between Sheena and Rose. 

The three knights pressed on in the cold and wind. Levi kept his eyes fixed on the path ahead on them while Sasha kept hers on a constant swivel. Levi raised his voice and yelled to them without looking back, “We’re entering the forest in a couple feet! Keep close we’ll reach the town once we push through here!”

Branches and leaves brushed past her as they rode, making her beyond thankful for the chainmail she was wearing. She was closer to Rico than she had been for the entire mission, but even with the added closeness Sasha would sometimes lose sight of her in the trees. 

She looked around her and saw a solid spot of black moving towards them. Whatever it was, kept it’s distance. She flicked her eyes up to the woods in front of her. Rico was yards ahead of her now, far too distant for her to yell out to. 

The blotch was moving with her now. Sasha was desperately trying to reach Levi and Rico, but the distance between them continued to grow. Whoever was trailing them knew what they were doing. They were out of Sasha’s reach, but close enough to be able to read her movements. She tried to keep hopeful. Maybe it was just Jean and his group or maybe Hitch had gotten separated and decided to group with them. But, if it was either of them there was no reason to keep this far away.

It was someone different. Someone outside of the six knights. This was solidified with the whistle of an arrow breaking the cold quiet of the forest and the harsh thud of the point landing in the trunk of a tree merely feet away from Sasha. The trainee swallowed hard. She had to do something and do it fast. 

With shaking hands she removed her bow from her back and lifted an arrow from the quiver. She notched the arrow and began to pull the string taut. With one eye closed she held her breath as she fixed her eyes onto the target. She let out a shaky exhale and sent the arrow flying towards the shadow, praying that it would meet its mark.


	9. Hushed Tones

Jean’s squad reached the target area before Levi’s. The town they reached was a small one, mainly just a general store and bar. It was a small pop up one offering supplies and rest to any travelers or merchants passing through the area. 

Their horses were parked outside of the general store and tied to a post near the steps up. Hitch sat on the steps and watched Jean pace back and forth, occasionally looking up at the moon. Behind him the man from Sheena leaned against a tree completely calm, mirroring the squad leader’s disposition. Jean didn’t stop pacing as he spoke, “Eld, you know Levi do you think he’s ran into anything?”

Eld cocked his head, “Are you doubting us? He’s fine.”

The response was anything but reassuring. Something didn’t feel right to him. Levi seemed like a meticulous man. This attention to detail in his plan would have taken possible setbacks and delays into account. As he paced he brought a hand to his lip, biting down on the tip of his thumb. 

“Hitch, Eld stay here. Something isn’t right, I'm going to try to meet them.” He knew their route almost as well as his own. If he were to start towards the forest at the edge of the town and rode along it he’d reach the clearing Levi’s squad would be coming out of. 

He moved to untie his horse, but Eld stopped him in his tracks. The taller man stood in front of him and blocked his actions, “Look kid, Levi’s fine out there on his own. If you want to go out there and try to play hero, be my guest. But the Commander’s not going to be a happy man if he found out some runt doubted his abilities,”

The plan was compromised. When Levi heard a startled yelp from behind him he knew that something had gone wrong. Most likely very wrong. He knew better than to look behind him. A trainee was expendable, for now. It’s something he’s argued countless times, but it always boiled down to that fact. The clearing into the target town was in sight now. He’d have the advantage once they cleared the woods. From the volume of Sasha’s voice, she would be able to catch up. He urged his steed forward and resisted the urge to look back. 

The fear was driving itself so deep into her body that she could feel it burrowing into her bones. The arrow had nicked her assailant and she could make out a growing spot of dark wet on the upper forearm of the figure. The leaves of the trees were flitting past her as she rode forward. The other two squad members were a few feet away from her now. Commander Ackerman had slowed his pace a bit, extending a hand to her. 

She turned her focus back to the figure. Things had seemed to have calmed down. Whoever it was, was riding with her now. The distance between them felt like a safety net. Too far for a slash with a sword and too far to make out any distinguishable features. There were two routes she could take. Levi or Jean hadn’t instructed her on what to do in a situation like this. From what she had planned in her head, she could either nock another arrow and aim for the leg of the horse. Hopefully giving her a speed advantage to either get away or bring this person back with her for questioning. 

The grip on the horse’s reins would be suffocating if it was anything other than tan leather. The fear was back and was gnawing at her like a dog with a bone. Her focus was shot there was no way that she could land an arrow on a moving target despite how large the horse was. She told herself to breathe and closed her eyes for a moment. The sound of horses hooves beating the ground consumed it all. The woods were piny and smelled of the earth. She opened her eyes and set herself to what she repeated in her mind. She would be getting out of this alive.

Rico and Levi had exited the forest. His eyes were focused on any movements in the forest. The two could hear the stomping of hoof beats steadily increasing. The two waited in silence. The bitter cold ran through them like a knife, but they sat upon their steeds nonetheless. Rico shifted to the left of the Commander and raised a finger to the woods, “There.”

He looked over to where she pointed out. She was right. It was a small movement, but the branches and leaves were rustling. He kept his eyes on the shift as he spoke, “Rico hand me your bow.”

Cold fingers grappled with the leather strap of the quiver on her back. She outstretched a hand to him and passed it over. He fiddled with the feathers on the arrow, attempting to pick the one that would fly the straightest. If he managed to time things correctly, one shot would be able to take down whoever took the time of day to antagonize a rookie. 

The sound of a bow being stretched taut consumed the air as he aimed towards the rustling of leaves. One eye closed and he slowed his breaths to make them come out calm and even. The cold bit at him and the growing need for sleep flooded his brain. He took part of his bottom lip into his mouth and he bit down hard. Copper taste filled his mouth and coated his tongue, but the pain kept him alert. 

Icy wind whipped at the two knights as they waited. They stood in silence only broken by small noises made by their horses. Rico kept her eyes glued to the leaves as the first figure broke through. A sigh of relief left her lips as she recognized the rider. It was Sasha, the trainee looked incredibly bewildered, but she seemed visibly fine. 

The Commander didn’t have time to waste on looking over Sasha. The other was obviously lagging behind her. He took a deep breath and held it in his lungs, steadying the bow at it’s max. There was only time for one shot. As soon as the figure broke through, his arrow released. Levi exhaled as he lowered the bow, he was sure that it met its mark and he turned to Sasha, who was coming up to Rico’s side. A cry of pain pierced the air and was followed by a firm thud. He smirked to himself and thought, “Bullseye.”

“Rico, take care of her. Check her over for wounds, do the best you can with what we have out here.” He dismounted and Rico let out a firm yes sir. He sauntered to the figure on the ground. Splotches of blood were on the ground and he took the extra care to avoid stepping on them. The figure was on the ground still, clutching their arm and gritting their teeth in pain. 

When he reached them, he stopped for a moment and admired his work. It went exactly as he planned, a direct shot to the shoulder with enough force to knock an unsuspecting person off of their horse. He bent down and tugged them onto their knees by the collar of their cloak. The hood fell back and revealed a boy that seemed to be no older than Sasha or Jean. His hair was raven black and his wide green eyes shone hard with pain. 

The boy made no effort to speak and instead shot up and grabbed Levi by the leg in an attempt to wrestle him to the ground. The Commander momentarily lost his balance, he locked the leg the kid was hanging onto and gave him a firm kick to the ribs with enough force to knock him back to the ground. The boy curled up on the ground, clutching his arms to his chest. He groaned and started to try to remove the arrow lodged into his shoulder. Levi grabbed his collar again and knocked his arms away from the arrow as he forced the boy to his knees. 

He looked the kid over again. Judging by the grit of the boy’s face he was out here for a reason. This was no bandit. The chain of robberies could have very well been set up to draw the knights out here. After having his squad member’s life threatened, the Commander had almost no patient left. Collar in hand, he brought the boy’s face closer to his own, “Why are you out here? Or did you just decide to play devil tonight? Who are you?”

The boy looked as if he was about to laugh. A smile grew on his face as he processed the older man’s words. A look of shock flooded the Commander’s face, no one in their right mind would be smiling, much less holding in laughter, at a time like this. 

The raven haired boy looked up at the Commander, blood trickled from his nose caused by the force of him hitting the ground, “I don’t answer to bastard men. Especially not bastard men controlled by some pathetic king.”

The Commander was confused now. There was no reason for this kid to be out here. No one else knew of this route except for the three kingdoms, bandits or criminals had no knowledge of the secret routes knights took, especially this forest one. He racked his brain for different possibilities and was interested by spit hitting his face. Below him the bow began to laugh, “Ha, that one’s from me and my king, mine’s no weakling cowering behind his crown!” The confusion was replaced with rage and he threw the boy onto the ground. 

He was sent to the ground laughing as Levi wiped his face with his cloak. Disgusting, he’d be taking longer in the baths than usual once he got back. He walked over to the laughing boy on the ground and leaned down, holding onto the arrows shaft as he lowered himself down. The force drove the arrow deeper into his shoulder and laughter turned to screams of pain, drowning out the sound of the arrow piercing deeper and deeper into flesh. He watched tears well in the boy’s eyes as he spoke, “Listen bastard, we’re taking you in. We’ll have ways to get you to talk. If you think the arrow hurts,” he strengthened the point by driving it deeper eliciting screams from the boy, “you better start preparing yourself on the ride back.”

The guest room was a colder one. There was a large window overlooking the barracks and training ground, making the room a lot colder than the others. It was dark and the smell of a snuffed candle still hung in the air. Historia wasn’t exactly scared of the dark, more scared of what happened at night and how the dark gave it cover. 

Rose’s advisors had taken her to the room and the dynamic the two had was an eclectic one, something that she’s learned is the usual for the kingdom. The relationship was a funny one though. You could tell by just looking at them that Moblit cared deeply for Hange. She knew of the circumstances that brought them to Rose and Moblit knew as well. 

He took great care in teaching Hange how to do certain tasks and even stayed a bit to talk with her before telling Hange that it was time for them to leave. The advisor was a very soft spoken man while Hange was, in a polite way, a bit loud and seemed to be a lot more outgoing. He told the both of them about what it was like in the kingdom and answered any questions the two had, but once Hange started asking about why Sheena wasn’t too fond of Rose he motioned for them to leave. 

Now she laid alone in a bed far too big and far too cold with only her thoughts to keep her company. It was true, Rose and Sheena didn’t have the best relationship. Her kingdom’s loyalty still stayed with Maria and the scars of the war were deep in the very land of the three kingdoms. There were advocates for a switch though. Erwin and his co-advisor stood strongly for it. He took the arguments into the advisor’s room and argued them so many times that Historia could probably recite them in her sleep. 

This was grounds for better connections. She didn’t like to think of it much, but it was. The whole situation made her think of the night where she met Ymir for the first time. In retrospect, it was a lot to let onto the king at the time, but it was all true. She felt as if she was a pawn, the figurehead of a prospering kingdom. 

She shook that thought away from her mind and balled into the bedsheets. It was warmer now and she turned onto her side and looked out the window of the room. There were lights dancing around the commons square and figures rushing around to finish their tasks. 

There were three sharp raps on the door and she turned over to face it. She thought to herself, wondering who it could be. If Moblit and Hange had returned she wouldn’t mind it. They both had interesting things to tell and being able to talk freely with them seemed like a fun, good thing to do. The second option in her head was far fetched. There was no way that Ymir had come to speak with her. The two parted ways after dinner and the king had left her with a rather solemn “Goodnight.”

Her hopes ran high as she sat up in bed and spoke to whoever was on the other side with a clear taut voice, “You may enter.”

She didn’t expect the person that walked into her room for the night. It was one of the nights that she met earlier. The door opened and the blonde wedged herself between the hallway and room. The knight looked about ready to go to sleep. Her usually tied up hair hung loose, the shirt she wore was untucked, and the sword usually hanging from her waist was gone. Historia felt the knight's eyes sweep the room before looking up at her and speaking, “Hi, sorry for the intrusion, Ym-, sorry, the king wanted me to check on you before I headed out. My shift just ended so yell for Hannes or Moblit if you need anything.” 

Annie moved to leave the room, but was stopped by Historia crying out for her to wait. Her hand stopped and gripped the door, keeping it half open with one foot out. She cocked an eyebrow at the princess, awaiting some kind of order that she could see coming. The princess looked down at her hands as she spoke, “Thank you. I mean not just for this. Thank you for today. Ymir made a promise to me and…” her quiet voice trailed off for a moment. Her wide eyes met Annie’s, they seemed so innocent and so pure. The color was the same, but that’s where the similarities stopped. Historia’s eyes were blind to the hardship and cruelty of the world, keeping the softness in them intact. Annie’s were tough, hardened by the weight of living and stoic in nature. The princess let out another soft “Thank you.” The knight nodded in response and left the room. The interaction solidified something to her. There was something deeper to this promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been busy with school exams but! Those are done now and I'm back. Happy holidays! Stay safe and take care, thank you for reading xx


	10. Summons

The carriage wasn’t designed for the amount of people that were in it and this outing to Sheena seemed like it wouldn’t be comfortable. Moblit sat squished between Hange and Annie, he was a bit scared of the knight if he was being honest, and no matter how he shifted he couldn’t find a comfortable position. The other two knights, Jean and Hitch were seated outside the carriage with the driver and probably had multitudes of seat space that Moblit didn't. In the seat in front of them sat Ymir and Sasha. The king sat with her head propped up, bored by a trip that she’s made countless times while Sasha’s head was on a swivel in a futile attempt to take in the scenery around her. He couldn’t blame the young knight though, she was officially knighted only three days ago and she was already on an official trip outside of the kingdom. He was the same way the first time he traveled through the lands surrounding the three kingdoms, but as the number of travels increased his excitement dwindled. 

They all rode in silence and Moblit closed his eyes in an attempt to make the trip go by faster. The bumps in the rode jolted him around and he kept his posture straight in an attempt to keep himself from bumping into the two beside him. Quiet gave him time to mentally run through his plan again. King Reiss had decided that the arrest of Eren Jaeger presented an equal amount of danger for the knights of both kingdoms. This granted them a say in the questioning of the boy. There was no telling what the boy’s motive was and Moblit had to be smart about his questions. From what he knew about the hierarchy in Sheena, he’d be joined by General Smith and Commander Ackerman. The status the two held was miles higher than his own and it filled him with anxiety for the event. 

But Hange would be with him and that gave him a certain degree of comfort. He’s grown comfortable with them faster than he expected. The skill that they had in finding the critical focal points of the matters at hand left him stunned. Sure, they had an eccentric, more fun loving personality, but they knew when to buckle down and get things done and he found that admirable. If something were to happen and jeopardize his plan, he knew that Hange would be there to save it all. 

“Look! The walls here are huge! We’re like ants!” Moblit opened his eyes and saw Sasha sticking her head out the window, trying to get a better view of the kingdom they were entering. He leaned forward trying to see the walls for himself. The sight was familiar, but the girl’s excitement made the experience somehow feel new. The knight seated in front of him was practically buzzing with excitement and it brought a smile to his face. 

The king let out a laugh, “Come on, sit down we have walls like that back home.” Sasha protested and leaned her head out the window getting a better view. Ymir pulled her back into the seat and explained the needs for formality in foreign places. The knight nodded intently as she listened, but from what he saw it seemed to go in one ear and out the other. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to Hange. They extended a finger towards the approaching gate. He craned his neck to see and the sight before him was nothing less than shocking. An increase in security was expected, but an armed group patrol seemed a bit overkill. 

Sheena was visually larger than Rose. The courtyard of the castle was vast filled with bushes and shrubs blooming with bushes and tall slender fruit trees hanging heavy with their bounty. The walls of the castle stood tall and proud, looming over the foreigners. Ymir led the brought with Annie by her side and the rest of her people following behind her. The knights were unusually quiet, it was odd for Hitch and Sasha to be completely silent when together and Jean had seemed to have lost his glow. Sasha’s excitement died down the moment they exited the carriage and entered the kingdom. The group felt cold and hard as they passed by groups of knight trainees rushing to their lessons, making them feel like they were a storm cloud that had fallen on Sheena. 

Both Ackermans greeted them at the entryway to the castle. The two wore their everyday chainmail along with a more formal tabard colored red and gold and adorned with the Reiss family crest. Levi extended his hand to Ymir greeting her with a formal, “Pleased to see you, your majesty.” He moved down the line greeting every member of the group, but stopped at Jean. He smiled at the young knight and reached to his shoulder giving it a firm squeeze, “Good to see you again Kirstein.” 

Mikasa wasn’t one for introductions and opted to silently shake everyone’s hand. She paused for a moment as she saw Annie. Her gaze moved from the knight’s hand and up to her eyes. It seemed as if she was looking for some kind of change in the Commander, searching for some kind of shift in the girl’s behavior. She wasn’t sure of what she was looking for exactly, but the blue eyes seemed to harbor something that she had an urge to explore. Removing her hand from Annie, she moved to the back of the group to greet Hange and Moblit. There was a thought in her mind threatening to spill from her lips as she moved to walk past Annie. 

Once all introductions were made Levi began to walk the people from Rose into the castle. Mikasa came from behind the group, rushing to catch up with Levi and walk alongside him. She looked back and stifled a laugh as she watched Sasha gawk at the grand entryway, tall windows, and tapestries hanging from the walls. The rest of them seemed cool and collected, but gaze seemed to catch on their Commander again. 

She glazed to Levi, “Do you suppose that I could steal their Commander for a moment? I’m assuming that we’ll be working closely with Rose from now on and I think it might be good to maybe organize some sort of joint training.” He raised an eyebrow and the Marshal. The request seemed a bit odd and frankly out of character for her. However, she did have a point. Until the situation at hand gets resolved the two kingdoms would be working very closely. He shrugged a shoulder, “If King Ymir has no problem with it I don’t see why not.”

As Levi led the group from Rose into the conference room, Mikasa led Annie into the barracks. Most units were being used for patrols, leaving the area almost empty for them. The blonde removed the securing of her sword to her waist and the Marshal watched intently at the small movements of the girl’s fingers. She didn’t realize how fixated she was until Annie’s voice snapped her back to reality with a, “Hey, ready when you are.”

Ever since the first visit to Rose Mikasa’s found a growing admiration for their Commander. The sparring match left her bitter in defeat, but she couldn’t help relishing the moments they shared. For nights she laid away in her bed remembering the sheer power the girl held. She’d chastise herself for feeling the way she did and for letting it disrupt her usual thoughts. Deep down it made her feel like a little kid again. In her teen years she spent most of her time training to become a knight while her friends went off together. They all had an air to them that Mikasa never really understood. When she would ask them, they’d all say that everything seemed brighter and more free. She thought that she might be able to understand it now, but with a girl that probably hates her very essence. 

The girl’s crystal blue eyes were staring into her own, awaiting some kind of guidance they were about to do. Mikasa finally found her voice, “You’re pretty young to be a Commander,” Annie raised an eyebrow in questioning, “What’s so special about you? What’s that thing that makes you so special? Some me yours and I’ll show you mine.” 

The query brought a smile to the shorter girl’s face and Mikasa felt that feeling again. A sort of awkwardness in her very bones that made the thought in her head cloudy. Annie smiling and motioned for the girl to come closer to her, “You see,” the girl shifted into a fighting stance that the Marshal didn’t recognize. She tried to find an explanation for it in an effort to prepare herself, the stance was far different from the standards knights are taught. Eyes shifted from Annie’s to her feet trying to read for movement and they shot back up to the girl’s face as she spoke again, “I’ll be gentle. Don’t fight it or you’ll get hurt.” 

Before Mikasa had time to think the girl was lunging forward grabbing under the Marshal’s arm and wrapping around her neck. Her first instinct was obviously to try to shake the blonde off, but before she had the opportunity, Annie stepped forward and swept her legs out from under her. She was falling to the floor and the blonde went down with her. The arms released her and moved quickly to grab Mikasa by the shirt before her body slammed into the ground. 

Annie’s breaths came out smooth and even, warm on Mikasa’s face making her painfully aware of how close they were. Her fist was tight around the raven haired girl shift, pulling her up to her feet again. A smile creeped onto the girl’s face, “That’s what’s so special about me. I excel in hand to hand combat as well as armed. I’m a pretty valuable asset to have.” Mikasa thought to herself, she was right about being a pretty one.

The next thing she did was done purely on impulse. Her eyes were fixated on the lips of the girl above her, making blood rush to her cheeks. She could feel the blush blossoming on her fair skin and the warmth of it spreading through her body as it muddied her thoughts. The Marshal loved up, meeting Annie's lips with her own. The quiet of the barracking became aching obvious as Mikasa closed her eyes. The two audibly separated and Annie stood above her in shock. The girl's eyes were bewildered and a blush spread on her cheeks. The grip on her shirt tightened as Annie raised the girl closer to her face. Her words were dripping with a certain kind of malice and steel, "I don't know what your regiment teaches here, but I think it's general rule of thumb to not play with people's feelings; even if you want to gain an upper-hand." She dropped Mikasa to the ground and her backside hit the hard, packed earth, "Not a nice thing to do Marshal." 

Mikasa sat on the dirt as she watched the blonde gather her things. She watched as she picked her sword off the ground and tie the leather strap to her belt again. Annie didn't look back as she left the training area, only leaving the Marshal on the ground with tears gathering in her eyes. She knew it was her fault and she knew that there were things she should say. But the ground seemed to have a hold on her, keeping her from chasing after the Commander of Rose.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> School's been a pain in the butt, but! Hopefully I'll be back to getting these chapters out regularly and thank you for reading!!


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